Raven's counselling for a shut-in
by CageVenom
Summary: Beastboy's over-excitement is notorious, but while he usually bounces back after ambitious projects inevitably go south, what happens when he decides that he's better off holed up in his room? Raven, the shut-in expert is sent in, of course! But it's "Titans, trouble!" when feelings start emerging on the horizon.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As much as any of us has dreamed about this, I do not own the Teen Titans.

 _Would appreciate criticism seeing as this is my first contribution, hope you enjoy._

Beastboy finished a game. It's not a stretch to say that just about anybody knows the feeling you have after experiencing that.

Accomplishment, mixed with a dash of emptyness, like the carpet was swooped out from under your feet just as you were about to jump for joy.

Woozy, excited and thoroughly inspired, the boy-turned-man rose from his desk, taking in a deep, contemplative breath. He paused for a second, a towering dark silhouette against the glare of the screen. The weak light hung on the yellow walls and gently poured over the pillars of trash, the landmark for which Beastboy's room had become notorious for. Head, hunched forward, arms hanging limp by his body, he drew the air deep into his soul.

Sombre green eyes shot open. Green skin turned greener. A whiff of the room's smell mixed into the inspiring air his nose was recieving. His super-sensitive, enhanced nose, that is.

Through the blur of his tears, Beastboy was able to make out the discarded pizza-box which seemed to have magically held every single one of his meals for the last couple of days.

Instead of re-filling the box, Beastboy got a hold of himself, sucked on his tongue, and picked himself up. The smell was so putrid it killed most of the fungi that was taking the closet hostage. He considered putting his shirt over his nose for a second but, in a flash of genius, realized that it was probably worse than the ambient odour.

Sneaking his way out of the dumpster he had come to call his room (or rather, the room that went through a gradual transition to the current dumpster-state), he counted the appointments he had missed with the showers. He got distracted at five, taking longer than usual to remember his door code.

Beastboy walked into the bathroom, softly closed the door and pulled off his clothes. He threw them into a green plastic basket. Unlike the purple, blue, red and black baskets in the row, his was empty, the contents still stuck (quite literally) on his bedroom floor.

Flexing, he looked in the mirror. He looked dead serious - determined to the point where his eyes could almost pierce the glass. The heavy bags under his eyes and messy hair complimented his intimidating look. A grin slowly broke out on his face, baring his teeth. If not for his boyish features, he'd seem rather sinister, but instead was more reminiscent of a grade-schooler in his best attempt at looking cool. Upon noticing that, his head sunk a bit and a feeling of embarassement crept up his spine.

But his spirit was unyielding! Today was the day.

Well, in a couple of hours, when the sun comes up anyway, but those few moments until the blazing sphere rose from its slumber were just what he needed.

As water poured onto his greasy skin, he began plotting. A movie started rolling in his head as he chuckled maniacally.

The sun was up. And he's there, perched against the cobblestones, tall dark and handsome. And she is rounding the corner. Without a hint of hesitation, he pops up from his cool pose against the wall and blocks off her way.

"Terra." he starts with his best low, raspy voice. "This is it. Today, I make you mine. Or...-" he pauses dramatically, for effect.

"-never lay my eyes on you again!"

Pure shock overcomes her and she feels compelled to listen, a huge blush, caused by his unstoppable manliness, crosses her cheeks.

"Wh-what do you m-mean?" she stutters unsurely, trying to come up with some semblance of defence. But all in vain. Beastboy confidently advances.

"Ah, dear." Beastboy continues matter-of-factly, pushing a pair of super-cool shades further onto his nose, his silky voice putting Slade's to shame. "Your feeble riposte will not save you from the outpouring firestorm of my deepest feelings. See this heart you have toyed with for too long? See it grow wings and carry your future. For..."

his hair blocked the light off his eyes as he dragged out another pause, before his voice erupted with emotion "I have bled too much at your feet. Today. Today! You come with me!"

Completely immersed in his wild fantasy, Beastboy opened his eyes and drew breath, stepping on the edge of the bathtub. The door of the bathroom opened, but it was too late. He yelled his heart out.

"Come with me, and I will show you the WORLD!"

A short silence ensued.

"I'll have to regretfully refuse."

The green changeling became painfully aware of the cold hallway air suddenly nipping at his sides. He slowly and painfully looked down.

Robin's eyes were glued shut by drowsiness. Apart from sleepy, he looked rather vexed. Face twitching, he stepped out of Beastboy's field of vision and proceeded to use the toilet.

"Beastboy, whatever you've been doing these past few days, it ends today... In the morning, that is. I expect you to attend training at seven flat, otherwise we're sending in Starfire."

Beastboy's nude, exposed body shuddered. "Not the Morning Glory."

His pupils contracted, a look of unparalleled terror flashing across his face.

"Morning Glory indeed."

Beastboy shrieked in a high pitched voice - Robin had flushed. Cold water (as well as deep fright) quenched the green boy's body, making him fall into a fetal position in the tub.

"Take this as a mortal reminder." the boy wonder added sternly, walking out of the bathroom.

Beastboy shuddered periodically. He remembered the last time Morning Glory was sanctioned against him. Robin and Cyborg convinced Starfire that he had fallen into a hybernation state and that, to prevent damage to his body, he had to be suddenly awakened. The method was unorthodox to say the least; half a dozen starbolts, followed by half of the contents of a CO2 extinguisher, tied together by a short expedition through a closed window and into the sparkling bay below.

The memory terrified the living daylights out of him. He dried himself off and realized he had forgotten to bring a fresh set of clothes. The clock on the wall said 00:30 AM.

This was late enough to take a risk and go towel-commando. Besides, he could always shapeshift in case something went wrong. Feeling satisfied with his bravery and tactical expertise, Beastboy ventured from the safety of the bathroom into the cold, harsh darkness of the hallway. He was used to his eyes being able to see in the pitch-black corridors, but the overdose of computer games left him temporarily blind as a bat in such conditions. The dark, however, provided cover and a feeling of rush and excitement, which is why he opted not to dash for the lightswitch. So, with a racing heart he... Raced for his room.

"Last corner." he thought, brushing his hand against the wall as he ran for the turn.

He tripped on something. And everything went into slow motion. Expecting a rough landing, Beastboy shielded his face with his arms, awaiting the painful carpet burn. Just before his sight went dark, he felt something... Soft?

Beastboy was awakened by the cold. He was lying face-down on the hallway floor, a small spot formed where he was drooling. "How did I get here...?" he muttered to no one in particular. Now aware of his rather exposed state, he quickly grabbed the cast-aside towel and covered his shame. He smashed in the code for his room and slipped inside.

The main menu screen on his computer was still lighting up the room. This reignited a flame in his heart. Sitting down at his desk, Beastboy started furiously scribbling down a plan to finally win Terra over, complete with makeshift illustrations and side-notes. It was going to be perfect. A brief glance at the digital clock by the bed quickly convinced him that after school was a better idea than the morning. Now he needed a good amount of rest to ready himself for the ordeal.

Something was bugging him, though. It felt like he had forgotten something extremely important. He shrugged, re-double checking the rough draft of the girl's schedule he had come up with from more stalking than he'd ever admit. She'll be done at two. Setting his alarm for eleven, giving himself plenty of time to ready up, Beastboy laid down and entered a dreamless sleep.

Through the haze of deep sleep, Beastboy thought he heard voices. They sounded as if he was at the bottom of a deep lake and they were at the surface. As he felt closer and closer to the surface, he could finally make out the words the voices were saying. Was that Robin?

"Clear."

Beastboy awoke with a start.

 _And that's that! Let's see what the other Titans prepared for the poor changeling in the next chapter. If you see any spelling mistakes or poor grammar, it'd be nice of you to drop a complaint. Toodles!_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: A sparkly-eyed kid once said: "When I grow up, I want to become the owner of Teen Titans!" His dream did not come true. (I own nothing please don't sue)

 _Last time:_

 _Is that Robin?_

 _"Clear."_

In less than one one-thousandth of a second, three thousand volts zapped Beastboy's body. When he regained consciousness a moment later, he was hanging off of the bottom of the top bunk, no less than three feet above his mattress.

"What is wrong with you people?!" the shaken boy shrieked. The Titans were all present. Robin was holding the defibrillator nodes, glaring at Beastboy. Starfire and Raven were floating, the latter even wearing full hazmat gear to protect herself from the hazardous atmosphere of the room. Cyborg had the wires to the defibrillator hooked up to his hand and wary eyes, as he scanned the room around him.

"Whose idea was this?!" Beastboy continued, still outraged.

Raven silently raised her hand, expressionless.

"Beastboy, I warned you last night." Robin answered.

"I expect to see you in the training room in five minutes."

Cyborg couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Oh man, green bean, you should've seen your face!"

Starfire was the next to crack a smile before she started to laugh as well. They all paraded out of the room cheerfully, leaving a shaken Beastboy in their wake.

He understood. It was a funny prank to them and it was their way of telling him that he shouldn't be late for practice. It was only fair that all of them undergo Robin's ego trips and toughen up for foes together.

But for a faint moment as they were leaving and laughing, he felt a bit detached. And that very memory, like a splinter, lodged itself deep in his mind.

Beastboy realized what he was thinking, put on his best serious face and tinfoil hat. "Conspiracy..." he uttered in a deep, spooky voice. Then, after sharing a chuckle with himself, he took off for the training room.

The green changeling let out a massive groan. Training was unforgiving, especially because Robin paid extra care to make sure he suffered as thoroughly as possible. However, now that the warm shower had watered down the bitter wake-up call, he remembered his purpose and also came up with an explanation for the morning events.

Today was going to be the best day of his life. He was going to overcome his fears, speak to the girl he's liked for so long, and finally get a girlfriend. Yes. His manly determination had returned that very moment, and he was ready. And what the team did to him? It was just fate. Testing his will. Trying his best to make a powerful, serious face, he trudged towards the common room.

The common room of the Titan's tower was usually empty and quiet at this time of day. Cyborg was likely to be found in the garage working on the T-Car, out driving the T-Car, taking a walk and thinking about the T-Car or in his room praying at his altar... To the T-Car. Robin was far more flexible. Before, he'd barely have time to think about Starfire and Batman as he was preoccupied with Slade. Now, he knew better. He barely thought about Slade and Batman as Starfire constantly floated around inside his head. Speaking of whom, Starfire was probably even better than Robin, with a wide spectrum of activities filling her schedule, varying from feeding Silkie, visiting the 'Mall of Shopping', or cooking Tamaranian specialties, which put the largest chemical plants and radioactive waste facilities to shame. Raven, to Beastboy's knowledge, was just being creepy in her room.

Which is why he was shocked when he found her being creepy in the common room.

This was a slight nuisance. Beastboy loved the loud noise the custom TV set could rack up. Raven did not. Raven could also send him to another dimension, which would be a terrible waste, because he could hardly follow through with his afternoon plan.

Thus, he decided for a strategic approach.

"Hey Rae."

She didn't move. Bad sign.

"Sorry, hey Rae-ven!"

Beastboy emphasized his correction to try and get her to respond.

Raven seemed to tense up.

"Whatcha readin'?" he asked, slowly walking towards her.

Raven curled up a little, as if in fear. It didn't take animal instincts to see that something was off.

"Are you okay?" as if approaching a scared kitten, Beastboy slowed his pace and lowered his body somewhat. He didn't know whether it was his mind playing tricks on him, but it looked like Raven was scooting - no - floating away slowly. His suspicions were confirmed when her cloak started dragging behind her.

Beastboy put his foot on the cloak gently. "Come on, Raven! I'm not mad about the Morning Glory. It's not like you have to be afraid of me..." Beastboy's mouth continued, but it was mostly to fill the preying silence, so he lost track of thought. "I know you hate me Rae, but-"

"No..." Raven's voice was her usual monotone. "The defibrilator, I suggested it because last night-"

"Last night?" he inquired.

Raven's cheeks blazed red with glory. "Last night I... We..."

Beastboy looked very intrigued. He was honestly curious about Raven's story. What was she about to reveal? What did they do that he failed to remember? Was it something bad? He was enamoured with the mystery behind it. Maybe that was why his feet decided to try tying a knot while walking, but we may never know. The look on his face went from shock, as he realized he was falling, to a blank look of awe as he was enlightened.

Beastboy unceremoniously tumbled down onto Raven. As they laid on the floor, images flashed through their minds.

 _Beastboy, running around the corner, wearing nothing but a towel. Raven, walking back to her room after meditating on the roof. The moment their bodies collided and fell to the ground. A full second of surprised eye-contact, and a few neon tubes in the lights turning to confetti. The empath phasing through the ground._

Beastboy felt as if he was continually hooked up to a defibrilator. The shocking images zapping him one after the other. _Their bodies, pressed together... Her scent..._

When he finally came back to his senses, Raven was gone. He looked at the palm of his hand and the fingers slowly performed a squeezing motion. Soft.

Playing videogames on the big screen is a bitter experience when you know you're a dead man. He could see it now; leaving a note as he slung a sack with his belongings over the shoulder, shedding a single tear as he bid goodbye to the T-Tower disappearing in the sunset. He'd live a happy life with Terra, being a good, hardworking house-husband. He thought about it - no one would employ a green-skinned person. He would die at age sixty-five, and would be buried under the old oak tree.

First thing was first, though. He had to get Terra to become his girlfriend. He checked the clock on the console and decided that a few extra minutes for preparation couldn't hurt.

Beastboy had been waiting for two hours. The few extra minutes had turned out to be overkill. Sweat beads were popping out of his forehead - the early summer was always warm in Jump City.

"Gaaaah, what's taking her so long? She should've finished a good fifteen minutes ago!" he grouchily muttered. The uneven surface of the wall he was up against mercilessly poked into his back and his underwear was now giving him a wedgie. He quickly adjusted his pants. The relief was real. He closed his eyes and sighed happily. When he reopened them, a rather uncomfortable Terra was standing in front of him. Becoming aware of his dodgy stature, he quickly straightened up.

"Uhh... Hiya!" he started. She took a step back.

"I was wondering, umm, you wanna grab, you know, some slushies or something?" He mentally slapped himself. Slushies were way out of fashion, froyo was the 'in' option, obviously.

"Uhh, could you please leave me alone?"

"I know slushies are a bit... nostalgic, but I know this really nice place..." his voice was lower, as was his head.

"Seriously, please, stop stalking me."

"It'll be really good..." he continued, not listening.

"STOP!" she yelled. Beastboy, at this point, was slumped and silent.

"Please," Terra continued. "Stop. I know it must be hard for you to understand, but I cannot remember, for the life of me, what you claim had happened." she stopped and choked down tears, before winding herself up again and continuing.

"I've tried, okay? I've laid awake for nights at a time, trying to see if I was wrong. I looked at my old pictures, asked everyone, dug through the internet. It even came to the point where I doubted my whole life and everyone around me."

Her eyes shifted from staring off into the distance to looking him straight in the eye.

"So please. Could you finally listen to me?" She paused. Beastboy made no move to stop her. "I didn't let you down because I wanted to. All I did was be myself. There's only one explanation: you have the wrong person. Whoever it is you are missing, I am sorry, I really am. It must be very tough and I don't pretend to understand the pain you are feeling, but I beg you. I beg you." she broke down, tears finally getting the better of her. "Realize that I'm not her. Don't try to make me someone else. And leave me alone."

Beastboy felt like he had been stabbed. But the blond-haired girl continued speaking through her tears and occssional sobs.

"I... Am so scared of you. I would dread walking home, I wouldn't go out at night because of you stalking me. Even today, I had a bad feeling about going home. It's horrible!"

He stared at the floor, motionless, listening to his judgement.

"None of my friends would believe me, they called me a liar and stopped talking to me! That one of the Titans was stalking me. Even my parents scolded me for making up stories. But today, I'm being different. Today I'm being brave. And I'm asking you, please, please never come close to me again. You have no right to call yourself a superhero if you abuse me like this. Today I'm being the hero you're supposed to be, by not just reporting you to the police but giving you a chance. You're not a bad person, but please. Please. Leave me alone."

She turned around and ran away. But she felt relieved, after such a long time. Living in fear of what he might do, looking through the window at night to make sure he's not watching. Paranoically glancing over her shoulder, fearing a flash of green might show up. But now it was all over; she told him off, and somehow, she was sure that he would never show up again. She knew he meant her no harm, but he was so persistent, it was creeping her out. And what is more, he never seemed to listen to anything she said, like someone suffering from dementia. But now she could finally sleep peacefully.

 _Oh man, oh man, what have you done BB?_

 _I apologize for any spelling mistakes, smack me in the reviews! Ta-taa!_


	3. Chapter 3

D-D-Disclaimeeeer: Yes, I get it, it's not mine. (I don't own the TT)

 _Last time:_

 _The blond-haired girl told him off. And she was sure he would never bother her again._

Beastboy was devastated. He was completely numb, standing still while tears rolled down his cheeks. How could he have done this? He, who knew better than most what it meant to be hunted. To be afraid of someone. To be bullied. And now he did it to someone else. To someone he thought he loved. Because he loved her.

But did he truly love this girl? What made Terra, Terra? Was it her looks? Gold hair, fit figure, irresistible blue eyes? Was it those things that made Beastboy fall for her? He seriously considered the topic.

People do often fall in love over looks, and it was a decent possibility. Especially with his stronger instincts, his body might have reacted. He could've fallen for her just for her physical appearance.

This, however, couldn't have been the whole story. More so than her looks, it was her attitude which was his weakness. In her, he found someone who understood him, cared for him, but didn't pity him. Rather than that, she stayed as herself and genuinely enjoyed herself. The real Terra made him forget about his past life and get over it.

Whether it was key that he was attracted to her at first, didn't really matter now. Terra, the one he was in love with at least, was doubtlessly dead, in one way or another.

In retrospective, Beastboy, rather than try to get over it, tried to get her back.

The funny thing is, he succeeded somehow. You could find about a thousand blonde girls in highschool all around Jump, one of them was bound to look the part. He found one. And she became his victim.

He shuddered. It wasn't sadness. It was fear now. He did something terrible. And she had every right, not just to hate him, but to tell everyone about everything as well.

If someone were to find out that he, Beastboy of the Teen Titans, was a stalker, the consequences would surely be dire. The looks and pointing fingers were hard enough to handle when the little kids did it.

This was different, however. Before, he was an outcast because of his appearance. There was nothing he could do about that. To some degree, it could even be useful, filtering out the people who are unwilling to look past appearances.

The horror of being condemned for something he did, on the other hand, would surely crush him. When the glances of concern and confusion turned to judgemental glares of hate, innocent fingers to accusing spears and snickers and whispers to disgusted shouts and animosity. It would be too much for him.

He needed a raincloud, but the bright day shone relentlessly on, as if nothing had happened. This put him in a weird place - he felt as if he was standing outside of his body, looking at the situation from a detached perspective. He saw a stalker, feeling sorry for himself. The birds were carelessly chirping while he stood there in the street, slowly being burnt to a crisp against the pavement.

Beastboy wanted to return to the tower and lock himself in his room for the rest of his life.

Then the communicator went off in his pocket.

"Beastboy, we have a situation. Cinderblock is r-"

Beastboy terminated the call and switched to GPS tracking for Robin's communicator. It was unnecessary, however, as a thick pillar of smoke started rising from a couple of blocks away.

He morphed into an eagle and quickly took off to help his team.

When Beastboy arrived at the scene, the battle was in full effect. People were running left and right, and the area was being procedurally wrecked by the blows exchanged between the team and Cinderblock. The titanic villain apparently took a bath in a blast furnace, as he was now all shiny and new. Complete, even, with a fresh chrome coating, which gleamed in the summer sun.

Beastboy, still in eagle form, made eye contact with Starfire, and she offered a brief nod before zooming back towards the enemy, using her massive strength to manhandle the giant. Robin was mainly monitoring the battlefield. There was not much he could do against an enormous hunk of metal. He spotted the green eagle quickly.

"Beastboy! Can you take over for Starfire? I have a plan!"

The changeling croaked in return, diving for the shiny foe. He transformed into a King-Kong-sized gorilla before making impact.

"Starfire! Shoot!"

Starfire started shooting away at his back while Beastboy wrestled him in gorilla form.

"Raven! Oil cistern!"

The empath responded without hesitation, pulling a huge truck ferrying fuel in over Cinderblock. Beastboy got distracted. Instantly punished, too. The massive monster tossed him aside with relative ease. He landed on a car and hurried to look at his opponent. But it was too late for Cinderblock.

"Cyborg!" Robin said, now like a conductor, orchestrating his foe's defeat.

A blue beam turned the flying cistern, engulfed in black energy, into a blazing ball of fire. Cinderblock was veiled by the thick wall of flames.

The metal and rock monstrosity looked intimidating, to say the least, amidts the rolling clouds of black smoke. Its metal glowed a deep orange. Wrestling him was probably as good an idea as boxing with a hot waffle iron. Just as Robin had planned.

"Raven!"

A fire hydrant popped like a soda can, right underneath Cinderblock. Just before the water hit him, Robin threw out his freeze discs.

The monstrosity practically exploded. Heat shock blew Cinderblock to smithereens. Beastboy morphed back and sighed in relief. The enemy was gone. Now he could take a short break, even if it was on this blue-white hood of a car.

"Wait, blue white?"

The worst had happened. Beastboy was sitting in a gorilla-butt shaped crater on what used to be the T-Car.

Robin was the first person to see it.

"Beastboy, what happened back there? You looked dis-" he stopped mid-sentence, and his face turned from slightly concerned to deeply worried.

"Nevermind."

"Friend Beastboy! Where ha-"

Starfire stopped and stared.

"BB that huge trashcan just handed your-"

Cyborg's human eye watered up.

"MY BABY!" he wept, rubbing his face against the desecrated remains of his car.

Beastboy instantly morphed into a tiny hummingbird and took off towards the tower.

Robin exchanged a glance with Raven. This was not going to be easy.

 _Beastboy is dead out of luck it would seem. Will his team condemn him for his actions? Will he be forced to leave the Teen Titans?_

 _Next update will take a bit of time because weekends are busy._

 _As always, smack my spelling via review, or tell me what you think about the story, I appreciate it. Enjoy your day!_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Dear santa, I would like the rights to TT for christmas. (Owns nothing)

 _Last time:_

 _Beastboy morphed and flew away_

After Beastboy took off Cyborg's wails of pain slowly came to a halt. His rage gradually grew, and his face darkened and his eyes screamed murder.

"He didn't even say sorry." he growled through his teeth.

"I'LL KILL THE GRASS STAIN."

He started towards the tower off in the distance. Starfire intervened, holding him to her best ability.

A black ring appeared around his ankle and he was torn from her grip. Raven levitated him upside down and shook him violently for a while. It took a while for him to visibly calmed down. When at last he stopped repeating "Let me down!" in spite, the empath lifted him so that his head was floating at her eye-level.

"Cyborg. Something is wrong with Beastboy." Raven urged.

"He's a dead man walkin'! That's what's wrong." Cyborg retorted in a matter-of-factly contained herself.

"No. Listen. Did you not see him? He looked like he'd been crying."

Cyborg's anger was, much to Raven's relief, replaced with shock.

"Wha-?"

The disc around his ankle dissappeared and he unceremoniously fell to the ground.

"Does anyone know why Beastboy was crying?" Raven asked, directing her voice at Robin and Starfire.

"So you noticed too." answered Robin. Then he continued, deep in thought: "I might have an idea why. Let's get out of here."

The journey home was a short one, as Starfire ignored Robin's pleas and ferried him back like a sack of potatoes. Raven, considering the state of the T-Car, conjured a disc of energy for Cyborg to ride on.

The Titans, barring Beastboy and Raven, gathered on the couch in the common room. Their faces were all grim and serious, and no one spoke. A lot of things had happened.

The door swished open and Raven returned from her scouting to join the others.

"Anything?" Robin inquired.

"He's crying. And rather loudly at that. The outside lock on his room is clawed off and the door is shut."

"This is dire news. What has happened to Friend Beastboy to make him act this way? Does he not know that Friend Cyborg will forgive him?"

"That's probably not it, Starfire." Robin answered, looking unusually stiff. Not that the boy wonder was ever the relaxed and laid-back type, he only let his guard down on rare occasion. It was a subtle change, but enough for a half-demon empath to know something was up.

"You know something." Raven remarked.

"Yes." Robin began explaining.

"Beastboy was stalking a girl he thought was Terra."

Starfire's eyes lit up in question, but she was silenced with a hand motion from the team leader. Cyborg was shocked, but Raven didn't even twitch. It didn't seem that surprising to her. Beastboy was capable of doing it, and given his happy-go-lucky, naive outlook, he might not even know he was doing something bad.

"He followed her around a lot. He took notes of her schedule and often quote, unquote accidentally, bumped into her in the street."

"Who told ya this? Did you believe 'em?" Cyborg tried to defend his friend, but it was half-hearted. He knew it was not as out of the question as he'd like to admit.

"I... Figured it out."

"Whadda ya mean? How?"

"I was looking through our communicators' tracking data. Mostly to see if our deployment routes were predictable, and to monitor crime location statistics, et cetera. That's when I saw a thick trace of Beastboy's recorded locations linking two buildings. Jump North High and an apartment complex a fifteen minute walk away. This wasn't patrol data, of that I was sure. Interestingly enough, the times were consistent to within a few minutes. To make sure nothing was wrong I then followed him and found the girl he was targeting. I thought a lot about the matter. A lot of things were going on, and at the time, pressing the matter seemed like a bad idea. I didn't want to lose his trust."

"Uncharacteristically nice of you, Robin." Raven doubtfully intervened, maintaining a sceptical stare. Tears filled Starfire's eyes.

"There's no telling what he'd do in that state."

"Why didn't you contact the girl?"

"I tried. She's a ghost, though. No phone number or record. That's a story for another time. When she wasn't at school or at home, Beastboy was on her tail."

"Fair enough..." Cyborg commented, completely shocked at what his best friend had been doing all this time.

"Now what?" Raven asked, her voice slightly frustrated. Beastboy had been a major part of her life ever since the Titans teamed up, as was everyone else. Whenever someone's position on the team was compromised and whenever they argued, things would always swing around and blow up in their faces if they didn't stick together.

But this seemed a little different. What he had done was restriction order material. The Titans didn't think much of the law system, however. They had their sense of justice to rely on and a need to do what's right. Which is what made Beastboy's offence that much more serious in the eyes of his team.

Despite all of this, Raven understood his actions well. The shapeshifter did not have vile intentions behind his stalking and, if anything, he was a lovestruck teenager with little to no self-control. This didn't excuse his actions, but it was a good explanation that convinced her that Beastboy, at heart, was not being a bad person, just terrible at conveying his feelings and admitting defeat.

"I think..." Starfire finally regained her voice. Tears were streaking down her face at this point. "I think we should try to help our dear Friend Beastboy."

The rest of the team admired her bravery. Sometimes, Starfire really pulled through for the others. Whenever someone on the team was in question, she'd be the first to quell the others' doubts and offer them a hand. This made her fit extremely well with Robin, who was a strict and critical leader who approached his teammates with discipline and scrutiny. Starfire, on the flipside, had unwaning trust in her comrades and wasn't afraid that taking their side would compromise her values. This is not to say that she was naive. Not in that sense, anyway.

"But I am also very upset at him." the princess continued. "Shall we decide the matter tomorrow?"

"He'll be sulking in his room anyway. It'd do us good to lay this off for a short while." Cyborg agreed with the alien princess.

"Yes, let's not do anything rash." Robin had the urge to have the final word.

The Titans folded for the day, going to bed.

Raven had a weird dream that night. She was walking down a dark tower hallway, wearing nothing but a towel. A chill ran down her spine. She could feel a pair of eyes digging into her exposed back. She felt like running but something cold and fabric-like was wrapped around her ankles, slowing her to a mere crawl. She was desparately trying to free her legs when she heard a noise. Raven looked over her shoulder slowly, hyperventilating, her ragged breath condensing in the cold air.

A pair of blood red eyes glowed from around a corner above a grinning mouth. The terrifying smile had pointy fangs arranged in straight rows, ready to devour her. And then - it started to growl.

Raven awoke with a gasp, instantly sitting up in her bed. A few books fell out of the shelves and the edges of her covers were levitating. It had been a while since her last nightmare, so this one caught her off guard. Its contents left a rather bitter aftertaste, too.

The morning planning ended up with lacking results, and two days passed by.

The door to Beastboy's room stayed shut. The Titans brought him food one by one, but the trays were left outside untouched and he never answered. Robin suggested he might have left, but a quick thermal scan revealed that he was still in his room.

Everyone returned to their daily business. Cyborg was grimly praying at the T-Car altar and, when the towing service brought it back, grimly repairing the T-Car.

Robin grimly sipped his coffee while he grimly worked on crime documents. Starfire grimly fed a grim silkie, cooking grimey pudding of sadness, which melted the iron pot, the stove, the floor, another floor, and was then poured in with cement after it piled up.

"Beastboy would've called it the Elephant's foot and made an attraction out of it." Raven, who was grimly being creepy in the common room, thought.

The four non-green Titans were gathered together, seemingly stuck in place by the thick silence.

"We're the worst friends." Cyborg admitted. No one said anything, but they all felt that way.

"Shall we write Friend Beastboy a letter? He might change his mind about the "shutting in" if he knew we were not upset."

"Maybe I should talk to him." said Robin. "I'd make him see sense in the situation and offer to give him training. Working out and a tight routine are the best way to overcome emotional turmoil."

"Maybe I ought to give him some advice. He's obviously bummed our, so it could do him good to play some video games and eat some chips. We could go to the beach, cheer him up?" Cyborg suggested.

"Wow..." Raven barked, barely maintaining her monotone. These guys did not have a clue.

"Robin, seriously? Do you think that going full Batman on Beastboy would help? Don't you think he'll just stuff it up inside of himself? He doesn't need your advice, he needs to talk about his problems.

Same with you, Cyborg. He won't be able to recover by just forcing himself to be happy. He needs to overcome this. At this point, the best suggestion is Starfire's!"

Nobody expected Raven's outburst, least of all Raven herself. She chalked it up to the book she was reading, which talked about the common mistakes people made while attempting to help someone. The stressful atmosphere in the tower which to her, as an empath, was unbearable, was also to blame. The team members were surrounded by clouds of gloomyness, and especially walking past Beastboy's room was a feat for her.

"Well, Raven." said Robin bitterly, "You're the one to talk." he paused, but continued when no one chirped in.

"Since you're the shut-in expert, and keen on shooting down our ideas, we'll entrust the bulk of this task to you."

Raven tried to open her mouth in protest, but stopped. Maybe it was for the best. It was true that, as a person who'd often spend a lot of time in her room, she could seem like a shut-in at times. Totally different in reality, but similar to an uneducated observer. Raven meditated and worked on controlling her emotions. She solely did this so she could talk to other people without things exploding (as well as to prevent an apocalypse). She also usually liked to read in a quiet, secluded place, but as she grew accustomed to the background noises the others made, she felt comfortable around them, which is why she started reading in the common room.

There was an even better reason, though. Raven had a very critical view of the situation their team was in. Robin had often considered what the team would do if one of them were to go missing, or get KIA. But what he usually limited himself to was thinking about the strategic disadvantages this would leave them at, rather than the psychological impact this would leave on the team. Raven, being an empath, had thought about it.

Beastboy was a key addition to the team, not because of his light-hearted nature, but because of how stubbornly happy he could be. At their worst, he would adamantly spew out terrible jokes. When everything was nearly lost, he'd be determined to go out with a "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

No one appreciated that as much as Raven did. And that's why it wasn't a simple matter of getting Beastboy out of his room. He had to rehabilitate completely and return to his former self. Otherwise, the Titans were in for a lot of trouble.

 _There she goes! What kind of elaborate plan will our favorite empath come up with to solve this conundrum?_

 _Should you discover any bad English, give me a (soft) bashing in the reviews._

A/N:

Thanks to anyone keeping up with the story and the wonderful reviews, you guys are awesome. I hope you didn't mind a bit of a chapter that explores the social relations between the guys, I thought it was important to clear up what's going on and why they'd want to help him, so that it's not just the "he's our friend!" treatment. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, but you get me.

I probably won't be updating up until Tuesday because of the holidays, just a heads-up for that.

I'm really thankful for your follows and reviews, they are charming and lovely and oh-so-nice. Have a nice day and thanks for tuning in!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: And so I cry sometimes when I lie in my bed, just to get it all out what's in my head and I (AIHEE)... don't own the Teen Titans. Or that song.

 _Previously:_

 _Beastboy had to rehabilitate completely a_ _nd return to his former self. Otherwise, the Titans were in for a lot of trouble._

Raven decided against arguing with her teammates. Zombies roaming around the tower was bad enough when Wicked Scary did it. Except now the unwelcoming atmosphere in the tower wasn't due to Beastboy's terrible movie choice, but rather Beastboy himself.

All of them have thought individually of breaking down the door and... And what? No one knew exactly what to do. The range of sounds coming from his room was narrow - violent sobbing, furious clicking, occasional wall punching, and utter silence. Everyone would think about breaking and entering as they brought the food to him, but when they got to the door and saw the deep claw marks left in the gray wall and a hole from which electronics were spilling, a lump formed in their throat and it didn't stop until they were far, far away.

The Titans knew this couldn't go on indefinitely. It would only continue until something else happened - all that was necessary was a pivotal event - and things would turn for worse. As of now, the city was in for another period of peace which always ensued after they scored a decisive victory, much like the one they managed against Cinderblock.

This state would not last. If the team was not at their best in case of a serious event, things wouldn't end well. They've already faced such circumstances and were keen on keeping their tally to as low as possible.

With that in mind, the empath took a firm hold of herself. This problem had been pushed onto her, sure, and she had many issues of her own with taking up the task. Ultimately, two resolutions convinced her to continue: first, she was not there to hand out judgement to Beastboy. If she knew him at all, he was judging himself harshly and the last thing he needed was further negative enforcement. Second, she was doing this for the sake of changing things. It was someone's duty and obligation to set their team-member straight. It just happened that she was the one to be entrusted with the task. Just as same as she wouldn't question Robin's orders in a fight, she wouldn't stop to do what she had to in this situation.

This didn't make her feel any less responsible, but it gave her a good reason to approach this, rather than something wrapped in darkness and negativity, as something necessary and unavoidable. No one could do it with the responsibility of their friend's well-being stacked on the die, unless it was the last resort.

These thoughts all columnated into something of a fortress in her mind. She had the means to protect herself from Beastboy's aggressive emotions that barricaded him in his room.

Now with a strong mindset, set on achieving a simple goal, to get him to talk, Raven took the final few steps and stood bravely in front of her friend's room. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused. His mood was driving into her mental defences. But they were very strong. The grief and desperation she had witnessed was immeasurable. The feelings Beastboy was emitting were intense, but she was beyond well prepared this time, which is why it didn't affect her as much as usual. Keeping her calm, she opened her eyes and knocked on his door.

It didn't come as a surprise when she heard no answer. "Beastboy." She said, doing her best to mix sympathy and concern into her voice. His ears were not just for show. They were beyond capable of hearing the empath's attempt at sounding kind.

Beastboy laid on his bed, curled up and blankly staring at the opposite wall. Bags were cut deep into the skin under his eyes, lines of dried tears covered his face like a spiderweb. A lack of water left his lips dry and his clothes were still dirty from the fight.

When he heard Raven's voice, he tensed up and a sob got caught in his throat for a second, before another wave of tears exploded out of his eyes. He had embarrassed her so badly when they bumped into each other the other night. And yet she brought him meals just like all the other Titans. He wished he could tell her.

That was out of the question, however. After what happened, he had done a lot of thinking. He knew that he couldn't ever lie to his friends. Beastboy could not go on living his life without telling his friends about what he had done. It would feel like he was deliberately lying to them if he went back to being his normal, happy self without confessing what he had done.

Confessing was, on the other hand, also out of the question. How could he tell his friends, the few people who accepted him for being green and goofy, that he had done something awful? How could he face Cyborg? "Oh Cy, sorry about the car, by the way, I stalked a girl who looked like Terra and I'm lucky she didn't call the police…"

Or Starfire? What would she say when her glorious Friend Beastboy turned out to be a stalker?

He imagined her confused expression as he explained it to them.

Robin would just kick him off the team. He had no compassion or feeling for anyone that ever did bad whatsoever, friends or not, the only thing Beastboy would be getting from him was an expulsion letter and, if he was lucky, a disgusted snort.

At first, the green shapeshifter was sure he feared Robin the most. But after thinking about it and weighing his odds, he changed his mind. Raven was the one he would definitely be unable to tell. Somehow, he always felt like what he truly wanted to achieve with Raven was to get her to understand that good things do exist. He understood her deeply in this sense - Raven seemed like the person to look at positive notions as nothing but passing peeves. Happiness was just a word to her before she had joined the Titans. And to disappoint someone so deeply was a thought so frightening it knocked the wind out of his lungs.

To become the same as the monsters, that had haunted him for his entire life, in the eyes of someone who had so little faith in the world was too much for him.

It seemed like everything in his conscious mind was being chomped down by dark creatures. The walls were closing in around him and turning the world against him. He decided that he did not deserve to be cared for any longer. It was a hard decision, but it was his own. No one would come to look at his face ever again - not just for their sake, but his own as well. It was as if the second someone looked at him, it would pierce straight through his heart and shatter him to pieces.

"Beastboy." Raven repeated outside. Beastboy slapped a hand over his mouth to muscle down a cry of pain. "No, no, no…" he thought.

"I'd like to push something under your door. But as it stands, these slide sideways. So I'm cutting a hole in it. Send it back to me when you're ready."

Beastboy didn't understand. A black blade of energy poked through the metal door and he, startled out of his wits, crawled backwards and up against the wall. A thin slit was cut a foot from the ground, barely wide enough for a small white letter to fit through. Raven's powers pushed back a small half-circle of thick trash away from the door, just so that her message wasn't mixed in with the rest of the garbage.

The changeling felt adrenalin surging through his veins. The fright she had caused him shocked him out of his trance and he was able to sloppily stumble his way to the door. Raven, hearing the disturbance in the sea of dump, felt glad that he had listened. She mentally thanked Starfire for the idea.

"Beastboy, read the letter, sign it, and then send it back."

On the other side of the door, Beastboy picked up the envelope, opened it, and found a neatly folded piece of paper inside. He opened it and, thankful for his enhanced eyesight, read it in near-darkness.

The letter read:

 _I, Beastboy of the Teen Titans, agree that Raven will offer me counselling. She will not judge or punish me for my actions in the past and will try not to moralize. She will listen to what I have to say and work with me to get me out of this dumpster I call a room._

 _Signed,_

Beastboy felt another wave of tears well up in his eyes. He said nothing, though, his sore throat wouldn't allow him until he's had something to drink. He put down the letter and immediately noticed a tray holding a tall glass of water and a tofu burger on the clean island of floor.

His thirst and hunger finally caught up to him, and he gratefully devoured his dinner.

The next day, Raven found an envelope on the floor in front of his room. Inside of it was the letter from yesterday, only slightly crumpled, with some letters smudged by tears. And complete with Beastboy's signature.

 _Thanks for your kind words, the favorites and follows. In case my grammar did a naughty, I'd encourage a scolding for myself. Otherwise, loads of love._

A/N:

I managed to edit and post this chapter today, thinking of my dear readers. I really appreciate your comments and criticism, they keep me motivated! What I'm hoping to convey how much of an impact this whole ordeal is actually having on Beastboy, while also showing how Raven neutrally cares for him. I won't write it off to something as vague and downright silly as a hidden crush. To be bold (and way out of my comfort zone): this is not one of those "all you have to do is ask her out" stories. But look at me making promises! I'd just like to say thanks for reading and see you next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: This next confession is called poverty, open bracket, altruism... Closed bracket. (I own nothing, please, don't sue!)

 _Previously:_

 _The letter was complete with Beastboy's signature._

Raven, whose face usually suffered from a severe lack of caring, felt her lips curl ever so slightly upwards. Not something a casual observer would notice, as the change was way too subtle. But it was there.

It came as a surprise, even to Raven herself, but the small success somehow had quite the positive impact on her mood that morning. Her step was far lighter than it had been for the past few days, as she made her way to the common room. It was empty at this early hour.

What would soon become Cyborg's grilling grounds as he'd craftily prepare enough breakfast to feed a small village, was, for now at least, a silent, comforting place, bathing in the morning light which blazed through the window.

Raven opened a cupboard and took out a refashioned cereal box, painted green and bearing the name Beastboy in thick black marker on the front. The green Titan had bought a bag of vegan waffle mix and stored it in the custom-made box. Raven mixed some of the white powder from it with water and poured it into the waffle iron.

When she tried cooking for the first time, it was a catastrophe, and in light of her love for waffles, Cyborg fashioned her a fool-proof waffle maker; pour batter down this drain, push a button, wait for your waffles to bake and set a plate for them to slip on after they're done. They even popped out of the grill automatically. While the meal was being cooked, she had just enough time to prepare herself a nice hot cup of tea.

Raven carried the waffles, now covered in blueberry jam, and a tall glass of water, on a tray all the way to Beastboy's room. She then teleported the tray on the floor beyond the door and knocked firmly.

Beastboy awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. He sat up and looked across the rolling hills of garbage and to the sacred semi-circle next to the door. A steaming pair of waffles decorate the island of sterility. The scented vapours rising from the plate were beating back the horrid smell and creeping its way into Beastboy's nose. His mouth watered.

Beastboy bravely crossed the rough terrain of his room and plopped himself down beside the door, greedily stuffing his face with the perfectly made waffles.

"Beastboy."

He stopped mid-bite, silently waiting, feeling slightly insecure. He liked to eat in peace.

"We'll start your counselling after breakfast if it's okay."

Beastboy gulped down his food and fear.

"O-okay, Raven..." after a long, heavy silence, he asked "Can we do it like this?"

"Like what?" Raven didn't understand.

"Like... Through the door?"

Raven sighed in frustration. "Okay."

"Thanks."

After he finished eating, he sat down and said: "Thank you for the meal, it was super-good," but his voice lacked the excitement to back the words. The waffles were in fact great, but he was not.

"You're welcome." Raven answered, then decided to immediately press the other topic.

"Beastboy, I've decided to do this in order to help you. Understand that I have no intention to hurt you, which is why I have to ask you: are you okay with telling me personal things?"

The teen in question briefly thought about it. To him, this was not a matter of whether or not he could trust Raven - she had proven herself in that regard many times over, and Beastboy practically tursted her with his life. His fear was more focused on how her opinion about him might change. Beneath his playful exterior, Beastboy was quite a depressing person. His life, up to the point where the team got together, was more or less a series of unfortunate events. Describing any whole year of his life was bound to include a macabre story of some sorts. And now, with the latest developments, he was dangerously close to having it take a turn for the worse, whatever that may be.

"Y-yes, I guess."

Raven decided to be bold. "Good. Now, then. Would you please tell me everything."

"E-everything?" Beastboy felt intimidated.

"Everything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay... Here goes. The universe started out in a very dense, high energy state, and began rapidly expanding. Thi-"

"Very funny." she utilized her best sarcastic voice. It was so caustic the door nearly melted.

"Now, tell me. Why are you locked away in your room?"

Silence.

"Because... Well because... Raven, can we do this later?"

"I'd prefer you didn't stall. You'll have to tell me eventually if we're going to do this, aren't you?"

"Okay... You promised not to judge me, or send me to another dimension... Right?"

"Yes."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I was stalking Terra. Or someone who looked like her. I mean, I was pretty much sure it was Terra, she looked like her, she sounded like her, you know? And-"

"And?"

"Please don't hate me..."

"Is that it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is that the only reason why you're locked in there?" Raven was slightly confused. Sure, this was a serious matter, but it's not like they wouldn't listen to what he has to say at least.

"It's not like we'll just hand you over to the police, you know," she reminded him.

"Raven, are you completely forgetting something? The second boy wonder finds out about this, he'll kick me off the team!"

Raven hesitated for a moment, but then decided to tell him: "Beastboy. Robin knows. We all know. Don't you think we would have figured it out by now?"

Beastboy's thoughts raced. Robin knew? He couldn't believe it. No one would believe it. Robin was heartless when it came to crime - that much he knew - and he'd never be able to stay on the team if he found out. The leader of the Teen Titans hated evil with a passion and there was no way he'd let any of this slide, period. That's when unwanted thoughts started teasing his mind.

Unless what Raven was saying wasn't true. Maybe she was sent in to talk to him - no, it had to be the case! Raven would never talk to him on her own accord. She just needed him to come out of his room quietly so they could take him away.

"But why wouldn't they just bust in?" a voice asked in his head.

Who'd want to fight him in his own territory? The door control was a sure sign of what awaited within, and though the Titans were fearless, flushing him out wouldn't be easy. Instead, they would craft a plan to get him out. Nothing easier, right? Send Raven, the only one who wouldn't blatantly give off her intentions, and get him out.

He felt betrayed and hurt, but above all, he felt dumb. How could he have fallen for it? They might as well be calling him out to meet Abe Lincoln in person! He would have none of it.

"Liar. Raven, I never thought you'd do this to me. You, of all people."

"Beastboy, what are you going on about?"

"Oh don't try to cover it up. You're just trying to get me out so you can arrest me. You'd never talk to me unless you were ordered to do so. Am I wrong?"

Raven's reply got caught in her throat. Technically, she was under Robin's orders.

"Beastboy, calm down. Again, I'm not here to hurt you."

"That's what they all said!"

That was a sharp jab at Raven's pride and good will.

"Leave me alone, I don't need your help. I don't need anybody. Just let me die off here, in peace. I won't haunt anybody, I promise." He continued, the sadness and hurt in his voice were replaced with anger and frustration.

"I don't want to talk to you again, you… you demon!"

Raven contained all of her words, though there were many, and none of them kind.

Light bulb debris showered her as she zoomed back to her room. Beastboy's childish side had gotten to her. His conclusions were so rash and thoughtless it made her outraged.

"What was he thinking?!" she spat in contempt. If it wasn't for her monumental self-control, she would have torn down his door and obliterated him until nothing but a small pile of soot and ashes remained.

The sun was already low on the sky by the time Raven finished meditating. The thought of walking past Beastboy's room was not an appealing one, though it was a neccessary sacrifice if she were to make it to the common room. Taking in a deep breath, she took to the hallways.

When passing Beastboy's door, she was surprised to find a folded piece of paper labeled "To: Raven" lying on the ground. She curiously picked it up and opened it. It was an apology.

Beastboy went on to extensively explain how he should never have called her that and how he was deeply sorry for saying what he had said. The paper was uncharacteristically neat, though some of the words were crossed out and the handwriting was among the worst she had seen.

This came as a surprise to her. She didn't think he'd come to his senses by himself. And because she had already dealt with her anger, it even came off to her as rather kind. It helped her regain some of the determination that Beastboy was steadily draining from her.

Raven walked on and decided to fix herself a cup of tea. On the way back to her room, she stopped by his door, knocked softly, and said:

"Beastboy, when you're ready to talk, drop me a note."

Beastboy stood in the dark room on the other side of the door. He was holding his mouth and tears were streaming from his eyes. He furiously nodded at her words, ignoring the fact that she couldn't see him, and forcefully held back his sobs.

After Raven had stormed off earlier, he stood in the circle dumbfoundedly for about half a minute, before regaining consciousness. He realized what he had said. On any other day, he would've gotten off easy with a couple of bruises. If Raven was in a bad mood and he'd say that to her, she'd probably refuse to talk to him for a week. As things stood now, however, there was a very real chance that she'd simply turn against him and tell Robin everything.

At least from his point of view. This made him feel even more anger for himself and become even more afraid of his teammates. It's like every step he took dragged him further towards desperation and he was more and more keen on staying in his personal landfill for the rest of his life.

 _Things are, arguably, looking up!_

A/N

Thank you for the follows, favorites, and especially - reviews. I read them all and cherish them all and If I don't answer, it's probably because I can't think of a good reply. I hope we can all agree that it's slowly getting to about time for Beastboy to regain some control over his emotions, at least enough for the counselling to have any effect. On the other hand, let's hope that they'll get into some enjoyable situations soon, too, eh? Thanks for reading, have a wonderful day.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: In case anyone's reading this in the future, know that we had way too much time! Also I didn't own the Teen Titans at the time this was posted (probably still don't, either)

 _Previously:_

 _Beastboy was ever keener on staying in his personal landfill_

The next day, Beastboy wakey-wakey'd to the smell of tofu eggs and bakey. He hungrily attacked the meal.

 _Raven was walking towards the common room to have breakfast. She found another letter outside of Beastboy's room. His crooked handwriting simply said "Let's talk, please"._

 _The empath, feeling encouraged, went to the kitchen and found Cyborg in his apron, waltzing around and cooking unholy amounts of food._

 _Raven had an idea. Of course, now it was just a question of whether or not the ends justify the means required._

 _"Cyborg..." Raven started innocently "Could you maybe cook some food for Beastboy? Because he hasn't come out of his room for nearly a week, maybe?" She decided to add some of her trademark sarcasm to try to divert attention to the green changeling, rather than the fact that she was, in a sense, caring for him._

 _"_ _Now, now, Raven, you know a good housewife should always cook a meal for her superhero husband!" Cyborg shot back in his best mock-English accent. The human side of his face was contorted into what looked like an imitation of a posh high-society gentleman. The cybernetic side of his face, ironically enough, stared blankly with its always-annoyed expression. Raven controlled herself._

 _"I ain't touchin' no nasty tofu." Cyborg finally added, firmly abiding by his meatloving beliefs._

 _A short trip to another dimension later, and a lifetime of trauma resulting from that, Cyborg was happy to serve a pile of tofu goodies on a big plate._

"Thanks Raven," Beastboy said with his mouth full, "this is delicious."

"I'll tell Cyborg you liked it."

Beastboy felt a pinch of guilt. He had crushed his best friend's car. Now he was eating the food he was probably forced to cook. And it was delicious. He couldn't face Cyborg in a million years, but if he could, he would definitely thank him for the meal.

After he finished eating Raven kick-started a conversation.

"So you're afraid we'd judge you and kick you off the team?" Raven winced at her own words "Smooth." She thought to herself.

Beastboy fell silent. Raven was about to change the subject when he finally spoke up:

"Yes. But that's not all. I'm so scared of facing you and the others. How could I ever stand in front of them like this? Like a monster?"

Raven understood. She knew what it felt like to be ashamed. She knew what being a monster meant. She was, after all, a walking portal to hell. The purpose of her birth was for her father to use her body to take over the world. Not really a "sings loudly and off-tune in the shower"-type quirk. Not that she didn't sing loudly and off-tune in the shower. In fact, Robin once heard her. But since his memories weren't left intact and he seemed to walk funny for a week after the event, it's not a stretch to say that it was still her own little secret.

She decided that maybe taking a trip down memory lane (which was more of a highway to hell, really) with Beastboy would encourage him to share as well.

"I know how you feel. I've felt it many times myself. Back in Azarath..." Raven felt her emotions bubbling. She pushed them back down, composed herself and continued.

"Back in Azarath, I was the scapegoat of my people. They viewed me the way you'd look at an executioner, who'd just beheaded a member of your family. Or a horrible ghost. Not a fun place to be."

While she told him about herself, Beastboy was shocked to hear her story. Her life had been as bad, if not worse than his, and hearing her talk about it gave him a weird feeling. It was somewhere between being honored, compassionate and angry. He was honored that Raven, of all people, was opening up to him. This is because Raven was generally considered a mystery for just about everybody. No one knew many details about her life and, after seeing her emotions get better of her only once, they prefered to stay in the dark about the matter.

He felt deeply for her turmoils. He knew what it's like to be treated as an inferior and outcast. The pain of judgemental glances was more familiar to him than his own mother's voice.

The final feeling in the mix was anger at the people who did this to his friend. While their lives were similar in this regard, Beastboy did not like the fact that Raven had to go through what he had gone through. He wouldn't want that for anybody. He was just glad that she had a safe place where she was accepted. And he had, too, but with the way things were going now...

Beastboy paused, and considered his current feelings for a moment. He had to make sure whether or not there were any implications behind these particular things happening inside of him.

After reading so many comic books on the issue (Ha!), could it be that his thoughts were being influenced in some way, by his feelings towards the empath? Did he like Raven more than he gave himself credit for? He genuinely considered the question.

Something felt off with that. It felt like a forced realization. As if he was trying to fit something broader in spectrum into a specific category. On the other hand, he instantly knew when he was crushing on Terra.

He decided to put off his pursuit of an answer temporarily. Not that it was a hasty decision or that he was denying things. He simply cared for Raven, she was an important friend and part of his family, and that was what all that mattered, really. Especially since he was holed up in his room and far from willing to leave it.

"Rae, I really appreciate you telling me. Dude, I feel so honored that you could share that with me, honestly."

"I, uh... Didn't mind... Telling you," Raven answered, surprised at her own words as she spoke.

"Hey, ummm... It's pretty late, so... Y-" Beastboy awkwardly pointed out.

"Yes, let's continue this tomorrow, will you-?" Raven's words were rather strung together and nervous. She paused, wondering if he had caught her drift.

"I'll... Tell you about ol' me tomorrow, then." Beastboy said somewhat reassuringly, but the awkward smile quenching his face could be heard in his words. A short, excruciating silence ensued.

"Good night!" he finally added the cherry to the pie of awkward.

"Yeah." Raven answered, on her feet, ready to walk.

"Raven?... Thanks." Beastboy couldn't help but reach for a cliché. He cringed at his choice of words, their effect on his posture was similar to a metal pan dropping on the floor.

Raven, on the other hand, felt them warmly reaching out to her, pitching a nice feeling into her abdomen, a hint of pink creeping to her cheeks. That was until she realized what was going on. Concentrated shame clamped down on her chest so suddenly it knocked the air out of her lungs and she notably picked up her pace.

When her door closed behind her, she was appalled. Did she really crave compliments that badly? That a sincere thank-you was enough to make her into a giddy schoolgirl? Ashamed and displeased with herself, she laid on the bed and tucked herself between the sheets. She would deny it under pain of death, but the warm feeling stayed until she fell asleep.

Beastboy, on the other hand, had no choice but to stay awake. Raven's personal story had a great effect on him. Not that he hadn't known - though her past was seldom subject to discussion (save for extreme cases, like when her interdimensional evil god of a father decides that Jump City bay is a nice vacation spot.) What really hit him was the fact that Raven was discussing the matter with him, of all people. Not that she would normally do it anyway, she didn't seem to need to make peace with her past. But just the thought that, when it seemed really necessary, she was willing to go that far for him, shifted Raven's image in his mind to another light entirely.

Though he often announced it, Raven didn't actually hate him. He was well aware of that. There were naturally a good few moments where the sole reason he wasn't puréed, was the dark girl's consideration of others. Most of the time, though, they were sharing a decent, symbiotic (or parasitic, if you ask Raven) relationship.

His thoughts turned away from Raven's change of heart, as he couldn't quite comprehend why she was willing to go this far to help him. He diverted his attention instead, to his own opinions of her. He thought back to their conversation, and the palette of emotions which he was experiencing while she told him about her past.

Objectively, romantic feelings could even be considered a poor reason to empathise with her story to such a degree. Beastboy had good intentions, and genuinely cared for the person that Raven was, he didn't just feel like he was taking her side. In comparison, if Terra had shared a similar story with him, he might have found himself engaged just as intensely, but that would be based on his romantic feelings.

Was he unable to truly empathise with the blonde because his one-dimensional view of her forced its way into his opinion? On the flipside, was his compassion for Raven stronger, because he could imagine himself as someone who judged her and feel the negative emotions that drove their behaviour, and see their mistake? That he appreciated her more because anyone could misjudge her (and a lot of people indeed have), and most of them didn't even know they were so badly mistaken?

The base of his emotional connection with Terra was plain, simple and obvious - she caught his eye and he liked her immediately. The intricate link he shared with Raven was different. Not necessarily stronger or weaker. And definitely not based around romance.

Beastboy felt like he was running up against a wall, so he decided to re-approach the matter from a different angle.

Maybe it was a much simpler matter. He and Terra both wore masks of happiness. And he simply loved the mask she had set up for him, and vice versa. It was a game of charades. The worst part was that their relationship was based on enforcing the artificial masks they were wearing, which would slowly turn them into cardboard characters.

Raven was quite the opposite. In their interactions, they flat out ignored each other's mask most of the time. Raven didn't naturally simplify or cut down her words to cater his outward image of stupidity, and only did it when the situation called for it. Be it a sarcastic comment to relieve her stress or just a helping hand so he could keep his image, she would rarely ever have to do it when they were alone.

On the flipside, Beastboy didn't bother with formalities. While most people who knew of Raven's powers and personality would take great care to refine the way they wanted to convey their thoughts. The changeling, however, spoke to her with his own tact (or lack of thereof). They were being themselves with each other - no compromises. And no one else noticed.

Was this proof of romantic engagement? Beastboy didn't think so. He would have liked to think that these traits of a relationship could be separated from love. That he could find more people he could connect with this way, and wasn't limited to just one person who understood him the way Raven did.

He also didn't want to chalk up every nice thing he could say about their friendship to the fact that he liked her more than that. It would be a cheap-out to say that the unique interactions they shared were an awkward way of hiding deeper feelings. Beastboy much prefered thinking of them as a mutual understanding between two people who have been through a lot and appreciate each other as the persons they have come to be, regardless of circumstance.

After this, Beastboy was finally satisfied with his reasoning and went to sleep.

 _Let's see what he wakes up to find next time. Don't burn me at the stake for bad grammar - just leave a review, puh-lease!_

A/N

Ayy, a little bit of fluff! That's the stuff that keeps us going, right?

Went really deep into Beastboy's head this chapter, and I tried (somewhat) to achieve two things:

One, make sure people know I'm not treating Beastboy as a stupid drama queen. He's capable of deep thought all right, he just isn't ready to accept his stalker side yet.

Two, I wanted to lay down the current situation and relationship "stats" between them. I hope I didn't overthink or downplay Beastboy's relationship with Terra too much, I'd say that the part talking about how they encourage each other's "mask" (that is, the persona they use to appeal to others) is me speaking.

I encourage your own interpretation of the story! But! If you'd like my interpretation of anything I wrote specifically, don't be shy to review or PM. I'll try to be mystical about things that could be spoilers, though. You have been warned.

Finally, I appreciate you guys for reading this and the words of encouragement you've sent. They are my little treasures and they make writing this a blast. Thank you loads, have a wonderful day!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Just one glance at TTGo and you can tell: I don't own the Teen Titans. Just one glance at me and you can tell: I don't own the Teen Titans.

 _Previously:_

 _Beastboy was satisfied with his reasoning and went to sleep._

Raven slept in the next day. When she first did it, it was absolutely unheard of. However, as time went on and she became more and more comfortable with the other Titans, and especially after the whole incident with her father. Raven still liked getting up early, but nowadays, she wasn't quite as hard on herself and occasionally, if she felt like it, she would blast the alarm clock straight to hell and continue her beauty sleep.

This meant that the early bird was the only one to see the sunrise. Robin was sitting in his room with a cup of hot coffee on his desk, along with various books and papers. He was deep in thought about the whole situation with Beastboy.

Guilt was yet again pecking at the aspiring young leader who had yet again chased himself into a corner. He felt like the Titans' reputation was at stake because of the whole matter. And if he had come out and confronted Beastboy immediately, condemning his actions and issuing proper punishment, it wouldn't have cleared their name.

The Titans were an icon as a whole. Even if only Beastboy did something unacceptable, the bad reputation would surely be contagious.

That ship had long since sailed, however. If they came clean now, their supporters would tear them to shreds. Beastboy stalks a girl, then locks himself up in his room while his teammates, the so-called guardians of justice, somewhat idly stand by and bring him meals? Headlines along those lines were what Robin had been dreading all this time.

He cursed himself for the stalemate that he'd driven himself into. Hoping that the girl wouldn't spill the beans while trying to single-handedly mend Beastboy's state to cover the whole thing up and make it as if it's never happened.

Robin felt as if he was one against all on this one. His teammates would surely shoe him if they knew his true reason for his supposed kindness and understanding was maintaining their reputation (and, consequently, his own). And there was no telling what the public would do, either.

Surely enough, though, nothing triggered him quite as much as breaking the rules of his book did. He was beyond angry at Beastboy, but he also knew full-well that they were in this mess together, and if anyone else were to find out, there would be hell to pay.

He decided that it was too early for rash action. As far as he knew, the girl wouldn't press charges or anything as serious as that as long as Beastboy actually stopped stalking her. It made him feel insecure, but he had to somewhat rely on her in that regard.

Robin also had to reluctantly rely on Raven to solve Beastboy's behaviour. When you leave Batman solely to stop relying on someone, it's time to accept that you've got a problem.

The boy wonder chuckled at himself, cynically. "Maybe I'm the one who needs therapy after all!" He said to no one in particular.

"Maybe you are." A silky voice mused from behind him. Robin's heart froze and he felt ice crawling up his back and through his veins. He jumped and spun around to find himself face to face with a certain black and orange mask. "Slade." Robin spat indignantly, more to himself than anything.

Slade's face disappeared from the screen and was replaced by Cyborg's. The mechanical teen looked like he was in massive amounts of pain - holding his sides with laughter. Cyborg was roaring with cheer "OH, MAN, ROB!" He choked out. "You should've seen your face! That was priceless!" And Cyborg was overwhelmed again, splitting at the sides.

Robin looked down at himself. He was wearing nothing but his heart-decorated boxers, his mask. His hand was clutching his utility belt like a blankie. He was more akin to a girl who'd just been walked in on while showering than a fearless superhero. "Mister Slade! What are you doing, you idiot!" Cyborg mocked as tears streaked down his face.

Robin's face was apparently trying to transform into his suit, judging by the color. "Cyborg," the team leader mustered a glare that would make Raven jealous. "Yeah, yeah, come down here for breakfast, bird man!" The half-robot brushed off the leader's anger, after finally taking control of his laughing fits.

The leader of the Titans started rapidly spinning around, picking up pieces of his uniform as he went. When he finally stopped, he ran a gel-covered hand through his jet black hair to achieve that signature spiky look. He even popped a peace sign and struck a cool pose.

Needless to say, Cyborg's jaw was off-screen by the time he finished. "I-uh… Uhm…" he tried to come up with a response, but Robin already cut the feed. The boy wonder smirked with satisfaction "Still got it." Feeling more confident in his choices, he hurried to follow his nose towards that breakfast.

Robin saw Raven as she walked into the common room, and, after crossing the corridor, he followed suit. Everyone except Beastboy was present and all of them were occupied. Starfire had her hands full with a very uncooperative Silkie, while Raven seemed uncharacteristically interested in Cyborg's cooking. Robin took a second to appreciate the atmosphere surrounding his friends. It was the first time everyone seemed to truly relax and not let their guilt bring them down. He decided that he'd take Starfire on a date to a somewhat remote lake. They'd take his bike and enjoy the day. No criminal would waste such a beautiful day making trouble. A picture of Control Freak having a personal picnic involuntarily popped into his mind.

Said couch-potato villain sneezed rather loudly while sitting on a blanket out in the park.

Everyone soon cleared out. The T-Car was still in its early phases of reproduction and he was eager to work on it. As the Frankenstein-esque laughter resonated from the garage, Robin and Starfire sped off on the R-Cycle, with the alien princess gently embracing him as her hair flew behind them, waving in the wind like a red flag on a general's battle horse as he rode to meet his foes.

Raven scheduled her session with Beastboy earlier when she brought him breakfast. They agreed that they'd talk in the evening. In the meantime, she had the big black couch all to herself while the others were absent. A great chance to get invested in a book for an hour or four.

The door swished open and it brought her back to reality. The half-metal titan walked in with a pleased look on his face. "Hey, Raven, what's up?" He asked, noticing her presence. "Not much," she answered honestly. Cyborg walked behind the kitchen counter and began cooking. The empath was pleasantly surprised to find him preparing a tofu dish, albeit with a disgusted face.

"Thanks for takin' care of him…" Cyborg gestured in the general direction of Beastboy's room. "Y'know, I'm his best friend and all, but when you said all that about mine and Robin's plans…" he paused to rephrase "At first I thought you were just mad at us or somethin'... But it just bothered me, you know… After givin' it some thought, it came to me that maybe you were right. And maybe you were the only one who truly cared about his feelin's and stuff."

Cyborg's short speech gave way to an awkward silence. "Thanks, Cyborg." Raven answered, deep in thought. It was never her intention to appear as if she knew how to better solve the problem, even less so than showing her care for Beastboy. She was just honestly worried about the effect their methods might have had on their teammate, based on things she'd learned.

"And don't zap me someplace nasty for sayin' this, but y'know it's cute how you're takin' care of the green bean."

Raven decided to let it slide this time, though she admitted that it tickled her the wrong way. She had come to regret briefly scarring Cyborg for life the previous morning. Her reasoning, why she specifically did it, was because he was refusing to cooperate. But it might have seemed as if she was offended at the notion that she had feelings for the changeling. While she would definitely disagree with the latter, it didn't cause her anger. Raven wouldn't simply explode because someone accused her of liking Beastboy. She was comfortable enough with her own emotions and kept in touch with herself not to be caught off guard by such a statement. The problem stemmed from the circumstances.

In the same way that Cyborg had (although inadvertently) convinced her to use her powers against him by specifically refusing to cook for Beastboy, he was now causing her anger and embarrassment by calling her cute, not implying that the reason for her to take care of the green boy wasn't a friendly obligation, but had underlying romantic implications.

What didn't occur to Raven was that this was perhaps intentional on Cyborg's side. Cyborg, though he'd prepare quite an act of feigned ignorance if questioned about it, may or may not have had ulterior motives and was perhaps, in his own scenario, was playing a matchmaking role in the big picture.

Raven - not that she'd notice, couldn't impose direct control over the matter. Her "problem" wasn't just Cyborg's teasing, it was the situations that he could create. If he managed to recruit Robin to his cause, she'd be constantly pressured to imagine herself as liking the changeling. But the killing blow, and the pinnacle of his symphony, was a pair of innocent alien green eyes. Starfire was much like an icon of child-like honesty. Her power of conviction was unmatched. Cyborg had the whole situation playing out in his head.

"Friend Raven, what wonderful news! You are "in the love" with Friend Beastboy, yes?" She would proclaim. Raven would fairly defend her case. Starfire would say "Oh, but Friend Raven it is glorious! You can trust me, for we are friends, right? You also bring him meals and speak to him of personal matters. Is that not the Earthly traditions becoming of a romantic relationship?"

Anyone found at the wrong end of these words would find themselves questioning any matter Starfire was drilling into. And while they might be able to deflect the first blow, Starfire would bring the subject up repeatedly. Raven was bound to be found with her guard down eventually and…

He couldn't wait to see the manoeuvres they'd pull around each other in that state, as they would surely be comedy gold.

For now, attaching embarrassment to the notion of romantic feelings concerning the changeling was all he could do. As well as suffer the imminent consequences.

"Don't let 'im make ya feed him, Rae!" Cyborg innocently chirped as he handed her a plate full of delicious-looking tofu-dogs. As soon as she left the room, his kind smile cracked into a full-on evil grin. Raven might have sent him to another dimension, but now she was in for a world of hurt. And unlike the delicious meal he was about to prepare for himself, the revenge was to be served cold.

 _Will Cyborg's evil plan ultimately succeed? Will I get away with any grammatical errors?_

A/N

Woah, we got a bit side-track, didn't we? But I feel like it was important to include some of the other people affected by Beastboy's sudden outbreak… Well, not outbreak… I mean, you get me, right?

After Robin's little episode that cleared up the outside situation (tsk91, I hope this answered your review!) Cyborg got some screen time! (Quite literally at first). I'm bringing out his wicked side to keep the team on their toes. You know, 'cause he can shoot a rocket from his shoe? Trying to hard? Okay, sorry.

The next chapter is due to arrive by tuesday, but could be as early as saturday, depending on how badly I schedule my time.

Have a wonderful day!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: OH, NO NO NOOOO! Stick to the stuff you own! No, wait that's not the lyrics. Wait. Oh god. What was I singing? (Don't own the Teen Titans)

 _Previously:_

 _Cyborg's grin would scare the Joker. Luckily, Raven was already off being a waitress._

What's steaming-hot and floating down the hallway? A full plate of tofu dogs headed straight for Beastboy's room. He could smell them from the moment the common room doors opened. Both he and his hungry stomach growled in unison at the approaching feast. The changeling hunkered behind a pile of trash, preparing to strike. The moment the plate was teleported, his animal-like reflexes kicked in and his muscles moved on his own as he jumped the tofu dogs.

This was the second time Raven had brought him a meal that day. She just called his name in the morning and took off. "Thanks, Raven, this is delicious!" He muttered with a full mouth. "I'll thank Cyborg," Raven offered. An uncomfortable silence settled in the air. "I-uh…" Beastboy tried.

"I won't do it if you don't want to." She filled in for him.

Beastboy was thankful for both her offer and her understanding gesture. "No, it's just… Please say thanks to Cy for me."

He was still uncomfortable with the notion of being exposed in any way. For all Beastboy knew, Cyborg was still upset about his car getting ruined and the changeling knew, better than anyone on the team, how vengeful a heart-broken Cyborg could be. Raven was probably what was keeping the metallic Titan from rigging the outside of his door with more booby-traps than the entire Home alone series accounted for.

But despite that, he still wanted his best friend to know that he was grateful for the delicious meals he was preparing for him.

Raven viewed it as quite a big step forward in the right direction for Beastboy. If he was able to see and appreciate the efforts his friends put into caring for him, maybe he'd warm up and trust them. After they re-established that, they'd just need to work on facing them in person.

Not that they were in the clear. Raven knew what effects isolation had on a person. With each moment Beastboy spent in that room alone, his ability to interact with people bluntened. If he became too comfortable in his own company, the anxiety of facing others would just rise. So it was still a race against time.

"I'll be back later, then." Raven said, emptied tray in hands as she walked off towards the common room. Just then she thought about the session they'd scheduled in the evening. She felt a pinch of excitement at the thought.

She couldn't help herself but enjoy the oddly eccentric way of communicating they've set up for themselves. The way they'd sit at opposite sides of the door and talk. Raven admittedly liked the whole ordeal. It allowed her to easily talk about her past. She had also always been frustrated at how the changeling always seemed to intrude her personal space. Now that a metal door was protecting her comfort zone, she found it infinitely easier to cope with him.

All of those were true, but there was also something else causing her to be pleasantly excited. There was just something special about a boy and a girl having deep conversations in a dark hallway. Raven didn't usually like cheesy, overused situations. She'd scowl at book clichés and get nauseous watching romantic comedies. Regardless, it felt like it was their little secret - and she didn't mind at all.

The sun shifted across the sky and was now dipping into the bay. The hands on the clock were also racing towards seven, and when it was finally dark enough for Raven to strain with reading, she put her book away, cooked two batches of waffles (one batch for herself, and another, vegan batch for Beastboy). This time she went for the chocolate sauce as the topping.

"Beastboy?" She called out in front of his door. "Hi, Rae!" He joyfully cried out on the other side of the door, startling Raven. After regaining composure, she teleported the plate over to his side, and they both began to eat.

"So… What did you do today?" Beastboy tried to spark a conversation. "I was reading a book, mostly." Raven plainly replied after swallowing a mouthful of waffles. "Uh-huh? What kind of book?" The changeling was really just trying to distract Raven with other things, to avoid talking about his past. His reluctance was temporarily suppressed the night before and he now ever so slightly regretted promising to tell.

Raven took the bait and began explaining a little bit about what she had been reading. Two sentences in, she completely lost Beastboy's span of attention when she strung together a couple of big words.

"Beastboy?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just asking you a question, but nevermind. Could you tell me about yourself, then?"

"So it really was unavoidable…" the changeling thought to himself. He took a moment to brace himself, but then went on with the story.

He didn't spare Raven any details. From the disease he contracted, to the death of his parents, to criminals forcing him to use his powers, to the terrible experiments performed on him by a surviving member of his family. He finished in about half an hour with his time at the Doom Patrol and how he left them to join up with the Titans.

Raven listened all throughout his story, asked him questions and encouraged him to continue. It didn't seem too hard on Beastboy at first, but by the time they were done, his voice was rather quiet, slow and depressing.

"How come you never told anybody?" She asked, almost slapping herself for the question that just flew out of her mouth. She knew exactly why he didn't tell anybody.

"Why are ducks so funny?" He answered with a question.

No one would ever buy into his happy-go-lucky mannerisms. They would mind their step and their words as not to upset him.

"Because they're always quacking jokes…" Raven slowly answered, as she realized that this was exactly what people did around her.

She and Beastboy were so painfully alike, but different in one very key aspect; while Beastboy had the strength to act undamaged, to make sure that people around him felt comfortable and at ease, she didn't. And that's why she made people tense. Maybe his jokes would sometimes compromise a peaceful atmosphere, she could probably turn an entire room gloomy with just her presence.

The only person who wouldn't act according to that was Beastboy. While everyone else would probably have to lose a terrible bet to try and prank her, he would do it voluntarily. No sane person would ever have the nerve to challenge her to a game of "stankball".

In these mind-blowing moments, Raven's opinion of the awful jokes the boy on the other side of the door would throw at her underwent a monumental shift.

It wasn't just that they were successfully and honestly communicating with each other, all of those times, Beastboy actually wanted to make her feel better. To make her feel appreciated for the person she was. He was trying to shine right through that glacier shell she carried around, to allow her to live in the now and temporarily stop carrying her burdens of the past.

Raven was shocked. Beastboy was strong and powerful, not just as a super-hero, but also as a person.

She was brought back to the real world by his words. "Soo… Same time tomorrow?"

"Same time tomorrow," she confirmed, then slowly took off towards her room.

 _What are they gonna talk about? I'm curious. I'm also curious about any mistakes you might find!_

A/N

Raven went in to feed a boy locked up in his room, and walked away thinking about the man behind the door, eh?

Well I'm a sceptical bastard, so I'm still not convinced. I'd say even Raven needs a lot more to find herself having a thing for the green bean, and while Beastboy might be thankful for her care, he's not sighing her name in lovestruck agony…

...YET

It's just a short chapter to make room in the bigger one coming on tuesday (now confirmed).

As always, hope you liked it, love your reviews, have a wonderful day!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the Teen Titans by writing this fanfiction. But I do claim this land for The Sector!

 _Previously:_

 _Stuff happened, ayy._

A few days passed and things didn't change much at the tower. The alarm was silent for the most part, much to everyone's relief. There were only two occurrences where the team needed to intervene. The first was an armed robbery and hostage situation in a furniture store. The four Titans were able to use their internal design skills to flush out the threat without risking casualties.

The second was another boisterous return of the wildly infamous Doctor Light. As soon as the team, specifically Raven, arrived on scene, he lost his nerve and turned himself in, begging anyone, who might be watching, to give him a legitimate research grant.

The latter disturbance happened during one of Raven's sessions with Beastboy, which might have been part of the reason why Dr. Light was absolutely terrified at the sight of her. It flew past Robin and Starfire unnoticed, but Cyborg noticed it, and that was plenty enough.

Beastboy and Raven were almost comfortably chatting at this point. They were respectful as ever with each other, though not at the cost of cheap jokes or sarcastic remarks. The way they talked didn't outwardly change, they just did it more often. That meant that they were able to delve into certain subjects, compare opinions and discuss things properly, as opposed to exchanging occasional one-liners.

It was rather new to both of them, however, neither of them seemed to mind. It wasn't that they didn't have a choice, but rather the exciting, secretive way they handled it made them enjoy it way more. That good mood directly translated to deeper, more personal conversations.

At this point, Raven spent nearly two hours per day in front of his door. When Cyborg told Robin about this, the leader raised a sceptical eyebrow. When the boy wonder expressed his disbelief, Cyborg filmed them. Raven, actively nodding and flailing her hands at a shut door, discussing one of Beastboy's favorite comic-book characters. Cyborg had to reattach Robin's jaw after showing him the video as well.

Beastboy awoke to the sound of footsteps passing his door. He could tell who it was, just by the pace and the weight of the steps, and it made his heart race. "What? Am I that excited to talk to her?" Shot through his mind.

That evening during their session, Raven decided to take a bold step.

"Beastboy, to continue our progress, I have a suggestion." She announced confidently.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like you to let me into your room tomorrow."

Beastboy froze. Just when he thought things were going so well. He couldn't possibly face Raven as the monster he was. Talking to her was one thing, but seeing her in the flesh might drive him mad. He was terribly afraid of having to meet her in person.

But then again, was this so bad? This was Raven, after all. He wasn't exposing himself to the spiteful stares of the wider public. Besides, Raven was being so nice to him, bringing him food and keeping him company. It would probably be okay to let her in.

"Okay, Raven... I'll let you in tomorrow, then." He carefully answered. He still wasn't sure it was the right choice, but for now it seemed like it. Beastboy felt like analyzing everything and defending his point would be very difficult, especially against Raven. Not to mention that she had been helping him all along. He felt like trusting Raven wasn't the wrong choice, and so he decided to stick it up and not complain too much about it.

Raven left out a breath she had been unintentionally holding in. It worried her to no end that Beastboy would flat out refuse her offer and make her life a whole lot harder. She was thankful that he was willing to trust her enough to let her try and help him.

"Great. I guess, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" She said, her voice exposing how glad she was.

"Yup."

They still didn't get their goodbyes down. Every evening when it was time to part, it was a slow and clunky string of farewells that seemed to drag on forever, only to be abruptly cut off by Raven walking away eventually.

Beastboy exhaled, his body relaxing from the tensity of the moment earlier. "Tomorrow, huh?" he said to himself, looking across the mountains of trash towards the slightly obscured window. His eyes settled on Mt. Trashmore, nestled in the corner, towering over the rest of the room. His eyes grew wide in realization; he had until tomorrow to clean up.

Much like Alexander The Great, setting out to conquer the better part of the known world, Beastboy felt the sheer burden of the task that befell him. That was when the cleaning background music started playing out of nowhere.

Beastboy knew that he had to be done by dawn, otherwise he'd run into the others while ferrying the truckloads of waste from his room to the chute. He had to be quick and effective about it. Thinking quickly, he fashioned together two large bins with some rope. If he filled the bins, crawled under the rope, and morphed into something like a donkey or a bull, he could easily transport a lot more waste at once.

The problem was that he couldn't load up inside of his room because he'd never fit through the door. So he used his working door controller and set it to "Open indefinitely" which, unsurprisingly, kept the door open until the "close" command was selected.

This was necessary because when he returned to the tower on that one dreadful day, he opened the door, turned into a grizzly, "modified" the door controls, and then closed it once he was in his room. He did this because he knew that Cyborg had override keys that could open locked door.

Beastboy slowly set foot outside of his room for the first time in about a week. It was so intense that even the background cleaning music paused for a second. The fresh air hit his nostrils, sharp as a razor. He took great care in looking both ways before becoming comfortable enough to stand outside. Then he got to work.

By the time he was putting away the last of the industrial-strength cleaners and required safety gear, it was getting dangerously close to morning. He was sure that the other Titans would find out about his estrades, because the trash chute, which stretches almost as high as the tower itself, was filled to the brim, and he could barely close it after finishing. That's why he didn't bother with covering his tracks too much.

He dashed to collect his clean clothes and bedsheets, ran back up and, feeling lucky, took a short stop in the kitchen, stocking up on all the snacks he could find. Then he returned to his room and closed the door behind him. The feeling was exactly the same as all those years ago, when he first got the room in the T-Tower. It was newly built for him and completely clean, waiting for him to move in. Oddly enough, it still felt comfortable inside, despite missing all of the signature waste. Beastboy basked in his own hard work, enjoying the fresh smell and the spaciousness of his room. The last thing to do was take a quick shower.

Seeing the first rays of the sun soar above the ocean, he re-opened his door and dropped into a full sprint towards the bathroom. Once the bathroom doors closed and locked, his clothes practically exploded off of his body. They were as dirty as if they were worn by an army mechanic after ship engine maintenance, who got captured and had to make his escape through a sewage system, which at some point intersected with a drain of a chemical war factory. In short - touching them with a ten foot pole would probably result in the pole either melting or exploding.

Beastboy was quick and efficient with his shower, coming out of the bathroom squeaky-clean in just under ten minutes. Wearing nothing but a towel, he practically flew down the hallway. He pushed himself to the limit in the final stretch, coming up on a turn.

Beastboy slammed headfirst into somebody coming around the corner, losing balance and crashing down on the person.

Beastboy found himself on all fours, hovering mere inches above an unconscious Raven. He had apparently knocked her out with the impact. She was peacefully lying on the ground underneath his dripping wet body. Beastboy gulped. Then his towel came loose. In a moment of cinematic divine intervention, the towel flew off, tumbling and dancing through the slight draft of the hallway.

Robin was headed towards the common room when he heard erratic footsteps, the sound of someone sprinting through the hallways, coming from the other wing of the tower. Confusion turned to vigilance and he decided to check it out.

The boy wonder was only treated to a split second of what was sure to stay ingrained in his mind for years to come. A stark-naked Beastboy, hovering over a motionless Raven, was staring him straight in the eye. The duo was located smack dab in the middle of the hallway. His sight was almost instantly obscured by a wet towel slapping over his face, and by the time he took it off, both of them were gone. Deciding to postpone the investigation in a mix of embarassement and confusion, he walked off towards the common room.

Beastboy heard Robin's footsteps and looked in their direction the second their leader approached the hallway intersection. His foot shot out and redirected the floating towel at the black-haired teen, and before he realized what he was doing, he was running full-speed in his birthday suit, making for Raven's door. The gods smiled upon him - her room was unlocked. He quickly (and carefully) danced his way past the sculptures and weirdly-shaped pieces of furniture dotted around the grim temple that was Raven's room.

She would probably never admit it, but her room was just as messy, in a sense, as Beastboy's. Although things were seemingly put into their correct places and everything was arranged in an orderly manner, there was just too much stuff in there. The books probably collected enough dust to fill a desert, and the thick curtains blocking the light just added to the overall claustrophobic, encasing feel to it. Much like the canyons of refuse that had built up in Beastboy's room did, the overstuffed shelves and cupboards might have made Raven feel safe in her room.

On that note, these same decorations that made Raven feel safe, made Beastboy feel like he was treading dangerous, forbidden territory. He hurried up, laying Raven on her bed.

In a moment of what could only be described as unintentional foolishness, he got caught up looking at her face. Beastboy hadn't seen Raven's face in nearly a week. And though on other occasions he didn't find it particularly fascinating, he was now forced to stop and stare. She looked uncharacteristically peaceful as she slept. Her features were so relaxed, and he could barely look away.

He surprised himself when he found himself thinking that Raven was, in fact, rather attractive. Imagining what her small form felt in his arms as he carried her to her room, how she pressed against his chest. She looked so cute when she unconsciously grabbed his arm. "Actually," Beastboy continued his train of thought, "I still think she looks kinda cute." That is, until her lips parted and out came a streak of saliva and a soft snore.

Beastboy was not a man of regrets. He had lived his life as it came, trying to make the best out of everything he could. But added to the heart-wrenching guilt he felt about stalking the Terra-gate (which was short for Terra Surrogate, something his bored brain had come up with in the past week), he was faced with another moment in life he knew he could never forgive himself for. Why, oh why, did he not have a camera on him.

Beastboy could morph into any animal he wanted, but there was no way that he could morph into a functioning camera. He remembered that one time Mad Mod had turned him into a lamp. He retained this ability. A green lamp wasn't really the most useful in a fight, though, and in fear of Robin using that knowledge in some scary sense or another, he kept it secret. If only then he had been turned into a high-quality DSLR camera with a medium range 85mm focal lens, that would have been perfect. But alas, his day was ruined by that tiny missing detail.

Raven began to stir in her sleep, her hand reaching for the now-visible bulge on her forehead. Beastboy knew exactly what was going to happen if he was in the room the moment that hand touched that bruise. He was standing butt-naked in the middle of Raven's room, staring at her while she slept like a complete creep. Feeling mortal dread clench his lungs in a frosty fist, he carefully considered his options. Either he ran for his life, or he died in some obscure, horrible way that Raven was sure to come up with. He was out of Raven's room in a flash.

Back in the comfort of his own room, behind locked doors, and sure he was safe and alone, Beastboy finally exhaled. As he lay in bed, he felt mixed excitement and fear for when he'd let Raven into his room that evening, as well as deeply hoping she wouldn't find out by their little run-in.

Raven was having the weirdest of dreams. She was once again walking down the hallway in nothing but a towel, while a cold mist twirled around her feet. But this time there was no oppressive pair of eyes glaring at her back. Instead, she was walking towards a door at the end of the hallway. The door had a square hole in it, like a dog door, except the hatch was missing from view. She walked up to the door and ducked down.

The other side was bathing in a warm, white light which looked much more appealing than the gloomy hallway. Raven decided to try to squeeze through the hole into the room on the other side. As soon as her head passed through, however, the hatch fell and hit her on the head.

Raven awakened with a yelp as pain shot through her head. Her palm felt a nice bulge around her chakra. That seemed off. She also noticed that she was dressed. Deciding that she had too little information to theorycraft, she decided to look at the clock. It was eleven thirty. Raven sighed in exasperation, she had planned to enjoy a morning cup of tea alone. She decided to find the others and ask about what had happened to her.

As soon as she entered the common room, she knew something was very wrong indeed. Robin avoided eye contact as he greeted her with a shaky voice. Cyborg, on the other hand, had a bright smile on his face. And yet he had an ominous aura surrounding him, rivaling that of a Starfire witnessing Robin, kissing another girl in fanart on the internet. And for the first time in her life, Raven truly feared the mechanical teen.

"Good morning." she tried to maintain her signature deadpan. "Oh, good morning, Raven." Cyborg said in a voice that rivaled sugar levels with Beastboy's cereal.

"Does anyone know anything about this?" She said, pointing at the now purple bruise on her forehead. Robin shook his head, while Cyborg voiced a simple "Nope." She sighed, switching the topic while making a mental note to ask Starfire.

"Has anyone fed Beastboy today?" she continued, trying again to sound disinterested.

"Oh, so attentive of you to worry about him, Raven, but it's okay. He's had his face stuffed in a pair of delicious buns, after all. I even buttered them with margarine and covered them in some blueberry jam. Must've been quite a feast..."

Cyborg's voice was unsettling to say the least. Raven shivered. Robin spoke up: "Raven, that bulge on your forehead, you might want to put some ice on that." Raven nodded and grabbed an ice pack and an apple before returning to her room.

"Robin." Cyborg said politely. "This is exactly what we needed."

"Cybrog." Robin answered, worry evident in his voice. "We need to get Beastboy out of his room first and foremost. Maybe you could postpone embarrassing him 'till after he's rehabilitated?"

"Perhaps..." Cyborg muttered, thinking back on the wonderful gifts he had recieved since the sun came up.

 _What did Cyborg get? Why isn't Robin hot on Raven's trail? Where did I make a typo?_

A/N:

Some of the things that might have seemed a little off and random are finally tying into the story, huh? This one's a bit of a long one, I hope you don't mind.

Beastboy is making a big leap forward in letting Raven in. If you're worried about the whole naked crashing fiasco running the plot, I'll just qualm your concerns by saying: No. It's not a massive plot point. Like, in real life, if you crashed into someone naked, would that play a major part in your relationship?

Thanks to anyone keeping up with the story, loads of love and have a wonderful day!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: It'd probably be awful if I were to own the Teen Titans. I mean, look at my terrible jokes and how I'm fishing for attention! (Don't own the Teen Titans)

 _Previously:_

 _Cyborg's grin would make baroque art angel-babies uncomfortably avoid his gaze while Raven went off to be creepy in her room._

Robin walked into the common room to look for a certain mechanical teen. It was quite early, but judging by the time Cyborg indignantly trotted off to his room last night, his charging cycle was due to finish early. The team leader walked in on a very upset mechanical teen sitting by the table with a super-sized cup of black coffee steaming from his hand.

Cyborg's brow seemed thicker than usual as he seemingly pondered on something. Robin quickly prepared some coffee for himself as well, deciding to give the other Titan a few minutes to adjust to his presence before he'd try to talk him up.

They didn't speak a single word until the jet-haired boy took a seat. "Cy…" He trailed off before he even started. Robin wasn't much of a guy for asking favors. He was able to do contracts, orders, and honorable pledges, but not simple favors. Something he might have copied from his teacher.

Deciding that the matter at hand superseded his weaknesses, however, Robin continued bravely: "I thought I saw something in the morning. I don't want to say anything until I'm absolutely sure I wasn't hallucinating, but I do have this towel as proof." He said, laying forth the still moist towel.

"Eww, what's that?" Cyborg finally broke his trance to answer. "Again, Cyborg, I can't really say until I'm sure. That said, could you look through some security clips for me?" Robin insisted.

"Oh come on, man, you know how boring those are. What's the catch?" Cyborg tried to hide his curiosity. He knew that if bird-man was prepared to ask him to check through the tapes, something serious was up, and since the team leader wasn't going all investigator on it, that left something going on with the Titans.

"Rob, don't tell me you want me to spy on Star for ya?"

Robin's head cleverly disguised itself as a strawberry. "N-no, Cyborg, you know I wouldn't do that."

Cyborg tried his best to contain a smirk. His face weirdly curled up and his lips puckered out. "Wh-hell, it seems like it's a matter for me to… Investigate then, isn't it, oh glorious leader?" Cyborg squealed, stifling laughter as hard as he could. Just then, the common room doors swished open, revealing Starfire in a state of morning disarray.

"Oh, hi Star, Robin was just asking about the uh… Tamaranian wedding cake traditions. He said he wouldn't want it to be "as bad as your other food", he said. Might wanna tell him all 'bout it." Cyborg chirped at the alien princess.

Robin looked more terrified than a babysitter who got caught watching TV while the kid ran away from home. "Terrible, you say, Friend Robin." She spat the word friend so viciously, it made Robin make a sound that was most akin to a terrified choking noise of a confused pidgeon. Cyborg scurried out of the room with a simple "You kids have fun!"

Cyborg happily waltzed to his room, the problem with the T-Car that had been dragging him down since the afternoon of the day before seemed to whoosh out of the window to make room for excitement. He knew, as soon as Robin denied the Starfire theory, that something juicy went down between the resident witch and the green bean. That something was also caught on tape.

The technological expert set the movie up for the screening, found the time he felt was about right, grabbed some stale popcorn and rolled the clip. He only missed by a few minutes, though, they were enough for him to burn through his snack.

That's when the rather boring shot was interrupted by the appearance of a pair of blue boots, followed by the rest of Raven. As she was about to turn the corner, however, a green flash flew in from the side, performing a physics-defying turn seemingly in mid-air. "OOH! That… had to hurt!" Cyborg exclaimed, ecstasy overtaking him as he slapped a hand over his face as if not being able to bear the sight. His fingers quickly split to allow his human eye a clear view of the screen.

By the next frame, the duet was sprawled out on the floor, with the green beast hunkering over his helpless prey, as Cyborg would later describe to Robin in great detail. Beastboy's towel then spectacularly flew off. Cyborg's fingers adjusted so he could spare himself the sight. Then, in a moment of kung-fu genius, the shapeshifter's leg kicked the towel at the team leader, who had just walked into the shot as the towel hit him. Before Robin could uncover his eyes, however, Beastboy had zoomed off, carrying Raven bridal style. Footage from the other cameras suggested that they ended up in Raven's room.

Cyborg felt happy. This would ensure him a lifetime supply of whatever he needed. All he'd have to do is bring up the clip and the main stars would do his bidding. He immediately uploaded it to his internal hard disk.

Then, on a whim, he decided to check the cameras for any movement since Beastboy locked himself up. The security system was smart - it could sense movement and all of the "interesting" parts would be collected in a shorter, more convenient video. It took Cyborg under five minutes to find the other mishap between the pair. "So it's a tradition!" He shouted in elation. Cyborg briefly considered becoming a super-villain.

Armed with both clips and a very toothy grin, he decided that a certain green Titan was probably getting hungry. He made his way to the common room and, ignoring the quarrelling duo (which was more like Robin trying to apologize and excuse his way out of becoming a toilet brush, spiky hair and all). Cyborg quickly whipped together some white bread dough. He shaped it into a nice pair of buns, deliberately placing them too close to each other on the baking tray to ensure they'd stick together.

Once they were done, he took out the baking tray, taking in a deep whiff of the delicious smell and his mastermind plan. Blueberry jam was used to dress the bottom hemispheres of the buns, while a knob of butter was placed on one of them to slowly melt and drip all around. Then he donned the chef hat and brought out his icing bag. He went with a deep purple color. "For Beastboy," He wrote at the undressed side of the bread, "Raven's pillows."

He felt proud of himself. The joke was, no doubt, the worst he'd ever done. Even with that in mind, however, he found pleasure in using the rest of the icing to transform the rather minimalistic design into a fully-fledged artwork resembling a bra. Incidentally, the buns were the smoothest Cyborg had ever pulled off. Tears of condensed evil welled up in his eyes as he skipped along the hallway, making loud noises as his feet smashed against the floor.

Cyborg knocked at Beastboy's door three times. "Oh, Garfield, dear!" Cyborg sang. "I've a bite of breakfast, a spot of feast, a little meal for you, munchkin!" He invited. "I'll just leave it out here and you can grab it when little 'ole me runs along!" And with that he was gone. Beastboy awoke with not one, but two awful feelings; not only was he intensely experiencing a lack of sleep, he also had a terrible gut feeling about something he couldn't quite put a finger on.

He heard the last of Cyborg's call and the loud footsteps of the metal Titan leaving. The changeling, still sleepy, dropped his guard and decided to check out the meal waiting for him. And like the unfortunate residents of Troy, he found a nasty surprise waiting outside of his door.

Beastboy's eyes settled on a bust of Raven, in the crust. His body moved instantly - the plate was picked up and it barely squeezed through the door as it swished shut. Beastboy looked sadly at the masterfully crafted meal.

There was no other way of getting rid of it than eating the entire thing. Beastboy wallowed in self-pity as he chowed down Raven's chest's duplicate. Cyborg was now holding him in check, and like a mouse, he'd found himself trapped.

This wasn't the elephant in the room, however. The huge problem would be surviving Raven's visit this evening. Could he postpone it? Tell her that it's still flooded with neurotoxic waste? She'd just break out the hazmat suit. What could he do?

Before he knew it, the day had mostly passed and he was snapped back to reality when a familliar knock came from the door. Beastboy yelped, jumping up on his bed and hitting his head on the upper bunk. "Y-yeah?" He managed. Raven said "Beastboy, I'm aware that this might be too hard for you to do. Especially now that you're in such a frail state and all. I realized I couldn't force you into doing this part all by yourself."

Beastboy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Raven was letting him off the hook! He had a few hours to prepare!

"That's why I'll just do it for you. Ready or not, here I come!"

Raven phased through the door to find a startled Beastboy sitting on his bed, crawling up against the wall. "You haven't touched your lunch." She noticed, nearly stepping into the plate she had teleported into his room a couple of hours ago. Beastboy didn't even see it there.

"H-hey, Rae…-ven, how's your day so far?" He stuttered unsurely, trying his best not to blank out. Apart from the incident in the morning, his anxiety was starting to kick in as well, and it was a match made in heaven.

"I brought some snacks and a DVD player," Raven announced, trying to sound professional. "I thought that maybe for first contact we'd do something together that doesn't require too much social interaction. I asked Cyborg and he suggested it. I was surprised at the good point. He even set me up with a movie."

Beastboy whimpered silently at the mention of Cyborg's name, but cleverly disguised it as he rubbed his head in pain. "Could you set up the bed, then?" He asked, trying to act inconspicuous. His eyes were trained on the DVD player. He needed to peek at what Cyborg was setting up for him. He held no trust for the mechanical teen since earlier that morning.

He awkwardly blocked Raven's way to the bed, extending an arm and nodding at the portable player. Raven handed it over and went on to use her powers to use the upper bunk's bedding to make them a decent place to sit. Beastboy wheeled his desk chair to the center of the room, turning it towards them. Then, he cracked open the DVD player, quickly tapping play.

A good comedy movie, one that even Raven enjoyed to Beastboy's memory when they'd watched it together, started playing on the screen. Beastboy let out a deep sigh of relief. He opened the player all the way, set it down on the chair and walked over to the bed, plopping himself down on Raven's side.

The movie started and the shape-shifter quickly took interest in it, laughing at every joke and making loud remarks. Just as he'd been before the entire incident had started.

Raven, not quite as intrigued by the rather shallow comedy, instead found herself sneaking looks at Beastboy. He didn't look splendid. The only thing that seemed to benefit from his shut-in life were the bags under his eyes. They had gone rampant and his eyes were now framed by deep-green circles. He looked notably paler than usual, and it seemed like he had lost weight, regardless of Raven's careful feeding schedule.

Apart from that, he looked awfully twitchy and nervous, something she'd only witnessed on rare occasion, when he got in trouble for something. It seemed so out of place that Beastboy, of all people, was being so awkward and unskilled at handling another person. Raven became worried for a second, and her glance turned into a full-on stare.

"Hey, Raven, I know I'm totally attractive, but like,..." Beastboy trailed off, unsure of what to say. Raven mumbled an apology, then averted her eyes, mentally slapping herself.

The film was just about at its climax when she focused her attention on it. It was a couple of emotional seconds away from a big, important decision, which was sure to ruin everything in the most comic way possible.

That's when something straight out of a creepy-pasta happened. The video switched to a low-quality camera feed, featuring a blank hallway. The speakers went dead-silent, as there was no voice recording. After nearly a minute passed, Beastboy was just about to stand up and take a look, when suddenly, a pair of blue boots popped out of the top of the screen.

The duo's eyes grew wide as saucers as the scene from the morning unfurled before their eyes, the fall and laying part equipped with slow motion and a slow, dramatic music.

The video cut back to the movie afterwards, the colors of the light dancing on the mortified faces of the two Titans. Things got deadly silent.

 _OH SNAP! Kick my shins for typos in the reviews!_

A/N: Turns out I'm a bit of a bastard, what with the cliffie and all that. Hope you guys don't grind me down to shreds while I work to bring you the next chapter!

I hope the more light-hearted atmosphere is to your liking. We'll surely be seeing some more of the good old problematic teenager episodes anyway, so a couple of mediocre jokes were, I feel, necessary to keep the ball rolling.

Anyway! If you're reading this story, thanks a ton. Leave a review if you like, I really love those. On that note, thanks a ton to the people with the feedback, you are awesome. See ya next time.

This is a bit of a PS; I'm also looking for something to use as a cover of the story. I was thinking something along the lines of Raven sitting in front of a door? If you feel like you've got just the thing, I'll mentally send you cookies forever if you PM it to me. (Health warning: side effects of mental cookies may vary, if you have serious self-esteem issues, visit your local psychologist.)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken, leave my loneliness unbroken, quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart and take my form from off my door! Quoth the raven: You don't own the Teen Titans. And the raven was right! I don't own jack. (or E. A. Poe's poem.)

 _Previously:_

 _Our favorite duet, featured in a very accusing video clip, is shocked to see said clip. In Beastboy's room. On his bed. Together._

Raven and Beastboy stared at the screen, both dumbfounded, with expressions of total shock plastered on their faces. Neither of them made a single noise, let alone any movements.

Raven felt a flurry of emotions surging through her. After seeing the clip, her thoughts immediately ran rampant, looking for a logical explanation. There had to be one, right? It could be edited footage. Yes, surely Cyborg had the means to craft this together somehow. Raven continued to try and make connections.

It was quite similar to the run-in that happened that night a few days ago. Quite similar, but not quite. A couple of things stuck out like nails. For one, Beastboy was obviously conscious during the whole ordeal, and he carried her off at the end. That was completely off. She had been the one who remained conscious, and she phased into a portal she created on the floor.

Then she noticed that the hallway was unusually bright for a night recording. When they crashed, it was night time, but in the video, it looked like early morning. That's what led her to look at the time stamp. It was timed at less than twelve hours ago.

This wouldn't have mattered on any other day, as Raven would simply dismiss it as an editing error made by Cyborg, or a deliberate change to increase the effect of the prank. Something was definitely off with the time, after all, it was two hours before she woke up that morning.

Raven couldn't make heads or tails of it. As her confusion grew, she subconsciously reached for her face and accidentally touched her forehead. Pain and realization shot through her instantly.

Raven wasn't particularly angry. She was massively outraged. But she wasn't mad at what was happening in the video. Honestly, it was no big deal. Unpleasant? Yes. Embarrassing? Tremendously. Maddening? Not so much.

She had a few things to say about being carried bridal-style to her bed and Beastboy intruding her room, but that was it. She never saw the big deal people made out of these things.

The big deal, however, was the betrayal she felt. Of course, Cyborg was going straight to hell, no questions about that. What actually surprised even Raven herself was how much of an effect Beastboy's attitude towards it was having on her. They've started trusting each other, and now this? She tried to think critically about the matter.

What, objectively speaking, prevented him from telling her? Did he think she would freak out? Was she that scary to him? After all of this time, was he, too, betraying her trust? The line of her critical thinking ended on that question and from then on it was an emotional downwards spiral.

Raven decided that Beastboy could ponder on his actions while sizzling away some place else. Carl Orf's O, Fortuna began playing from seemingly nowhere, as four blood-red eyes sprouted on Raven's face, her menacing smirk baring lines of fangs, while her cloak became host to a host of pitch-black tentacles. "Beastboy," the army of demonic voices bellowed.

Beastboy's feelings and thoughts were much more linear and focused. He was very afraid, for the most part. He also had a sudden feeling that he was unwelcome in his room. Deciding that, for now, it was probably best to follow that gut feeling, he got up.

The green changeling ran for dear life, tears pouring out of his eyes in two floating trails that followed behind him. Black energy bolts swished past his ears, leaving craters the size of a beach ball wherever they landed. Beastboy countered the deadly bullets with apologies and pleas for mercy. It didn't affect Raven.

Just as he was saying his last prayers, Beastboy rounded a few corners and managed to temporarily postpone his drastic demise. Raven had lost sight of him and now he went from running to hiding.

A swooshing noise startled him from behind, and as he tried to scream in terror, a large, cold hand covered his mouth and dragged him into a small, dark room. This was probably it. "SHHHH!" Slithered by his ear.

A lightbulb turned on and Beastboy found himself face-to-face with a certain Cyborg the cyborg. "B, calm down, a'ight, listen to me, man." said the mechanical teen, obviously panicking. Beastboy, whose mouth was still covered, nodded quickly. "Rae's gonna kill us both anyway..." he tossed in, to which the green changeling responded by giving him a "fair point" look.

"Before that, I just wanna say I'm sorry. Like, Rae sent me to another dimension the other day and I thought it'd be a fun way to get back at her." He paused, looking like he changed his mind. "Actually, that ain't all true..." Cyborg confessed, looking about ready to die of shame.

"Truth is I was kinda... Jealous of you guys." he choked out past the lump in his throat. Beastboy's face changed from intrigue to confusion. He lifted his eyebrows as if to say "Go on,"

"Well, like, y'see. Rob and Star were gettin' all touchy-feely like, right?" Cyborg tried to get Beastboy to see his point. "And you and Raven started hangin' out a lot and everything. And then there was some stupid post on the web sayin' stuff like: Gettin' a girlfriend makes a guy lose one best friend, right? So like, not that I'm feeling entitled or anythin', but I thought I was probably your only best friend, right?"

Beastboy was having trouble deciding whether to initiate a facepalm or manly tears of friendship.

"You do the math. So like, we're goin' to hell now anyway, so I just really wanted to tell ya man. It's all my fault for being a selfish bastard who didn't wanna lose his friends. Y'all don't have to forgive me, I just thought I'd tell ya sorry and all."

He finally released Beastboy's face, and the green changeling took a deep breath. "Cy you huge idiot! We're both gonna die and it's all 'cause of YOUR prank! And dude, I'm mad too, like, I was kinda the butt of the joke with Rae!" he yelled. Beastboy was indeed angry at Cyborg for a second. But then he calmed down. Cyborg wasn't treating him the way he feared. He was being an honest friend. And it felt so good finally talking to him after all this time. That's why he continued in a far less condescending tone.

"But all that aside, it's all good, man. I understand that you got worried when Raven and I hung out so much. I was surprised myself, man. It was all so awesome, she's a really interesting person once you get to know her." Beastboy trailed off the point.

"I know man, Rae got really cool while we hung out working on the T-Car way back when."

"Man, and you were worried 'cause you'd lose two great friends 'cause like, Raven and I would be totally dating or something? It's like you don't even know her, man!" Beastboy joked, lightheartedly. He felt so good about the whole conversation he was having with Cyborg. It wasn't half as scary or intimidating as he was sure it would be. Raven was right after all, maybe his friends didn't hate him for what he did. He didn't feel quite ready to check yet, though.

"Man, I just wish I could tell Raven thanks for the talks. Like, I'd probably just starve to death in my room if it weren't for her."

"Yeah, man, we were really clueless about what to do with ya. Raven took charge of everything herself. Me and Rob pumped out ideas, she told us they were terrible and why. When Rob told her that she should be in charge of you, she just sat there for a minute then took it. My eyes nearly popped out. Then she cooked you waffles, man! I was so surprised. She was the real hero, we just failed you as friends. And we always thought YOU were the idiot."

"Don't say that! We're gonna die together, fighting like heroes, dude! It was all good, man." Beastboy said, staring off into the distance. That is, the crumpled detergent poster on the back wall.

"Yeah." Cyborg simply agreed.

They enjoyed a silent moment of testosterone-driven friendship, each doing their best to withhold tears of pure glory.

"Wanna charge out into the belly of the Beast?" Beast Man suggested.

"Totally." Said the towering Titan.

"Gotcha, let's breach in three, two, one!" They got into position on either side of the door and when Beast Man finished his countdown, they opened it and ran out, screaming "Freedoooooom!"

Beastboy and Cyborg burst out of the room, Cyborg wearing a bucket for a helmet and a broomstick as a spear. Beastboy wielded double cleaning agent sprays and huge yellow gloves. The courageous duo's battlecry was cut short when they came out to find a very calm Raven propped against the wall. Her hood was up, and so was her glare, but there wasn't any notable intent to kill in her eyes.

"Uh, hey Raven," Beastboy said, surprised to see her. Raven didn't waste time. "I heard everything."

The male duo let out an "Oh," in unison, somewhat confused as to why they were still in that particular plane of existence. An uncomfortable silence settled between the three Titans."We're not in another yet? Man, this is as awkward as a full elevator…" Beastboy found himself thinking. Everyone stood silent, waiting for something to happen.

"Soo, uhh.." Beastboy broke the silence. "That means we're not gonna die? Like Cy's real sorry and everything."

"Yeah, I'm a reformed man, Rae, I won't mess around ever again!" Cyborg caught on to Beastboy's direction.

"He's gonna make it up, Raven, like seriously. Like pizza sized waffles!"

Cyborg nodded enthusiastically, supporting Beastboy's words whole heartedly.

Everything paused for a second and Raven let out a contemplating "Hmmmm."

Cyborg was suddenly zapped by dark powers, and Beastboy couldn't even see the cinders left behind the mechanical Titan. The changeling let out a near-supersonic high-pitched scream as he dropped to his knees, hugging the bucket that his brother in arms had been wearing.

"Cy, man, you were too young to go... We didn't even get to play Ninja Monkeys VIII. Don't leave me man. Not like this."

"He's fine, Beastboy."

"Whadda ya mean he's fine, he's probably fighting off a giant army of tentacles!"

Raven spared herself the mental image. "No, he's not."

"Where is he, then?"

Cyborg found himself in the middle of a seemingly infinite cornfield. A blank stare crossed his face, as he made a few paces to scout out the location. He certainly didn't expect eternal damnation to be this mediocre. He brought up the satnav integrated into his arm. That's when Cyborg's eyes widened and he paled a little. This wasn't hell! It was Kansas!

"Nooooooo!" said the tin man. Raven, the Wicked Witch was crueler than he thought.

"Somewhere in Kansas I think." Raven answered in her usual monotone.

"What? Raven, that was cruel." Beastboy instigated.

"The tin can deserved it." Raven said, and while her voice was as calm as ever, she looked somewhat uncharacteristically fired up by her sweet revenge. The green Titan tried to further his argument, but Raven stopped him with a look.

"Robin and Starfire are on their way here. Would you like me to take you to your room?" She offered calmly.

Beastboy nodded thankfully. "Thanks for understanding, Raven." Raven just gestured that he was welcome.

Beastboy wasn't ready to face his leader just yet. It would soon be time, but for now, today had achieved more than she could've hoped for. And Raven knew it all, which made him immensely thankful to his great friend. She took such great care of him, and now that even Cyborg pointed out that everyone noticed her efforts, he felt even more indebted to the empath. She never complained about having to deal with his antics or bringing him food.

It was so unusually kind and understanding of her. Not that she was never like that, the big difference was that she never really showed that side to anyone. It was as if a little bit of a timid little girl was left inside of her, buried deep beneath the horrible events that transpired throughout her life, and while she kept that side walled off from the world, it seemed to seep out in a manner like this.

This in mind, Beastboy felt very good being around Raven. He felt that in some way, these sessions were helping her, and not only himself. Above all, this was the notion that brought him the closest to being his old self again. The notion that he could protect a person's smile.

"Listen, Raven," He started, feeling confident. She gestured him to continue.

"I know you heard it all from the broom closet, but I wanna say it again. Thanks a whole bunch for taking care of me. I mean, it's really nice of you, and I just want to be sure you know that I appreciate it. So, about this morning… Like I was gonna wake you up and everything, but then Robin walked by -"

"It's okay, Beastboy." Raven stopped him mid-sentence. "I thought about it and I think I kind of owe you an apology as well." Beastboy raised a curious eyebrow.

"Attacking you was rash and not thought through. I somehow arrived at the conclusion that you were betraying my trust and then anger just took over. I'm really sorry for frightening you, I sincerely apologize." She paused adding effect to her words. Beastboy was deeply touched.

This was one of the few times he heard Raven utter an apology from the heart. Especially for her anger. Raven was notorious for snapping rather quickly under certain circumstances. For the most part, Beastboy had mapped out those "buttons" that took her over the edge. Though she was very hard to provoke in real combat situations, all it took was a couple of wrong words and you'd be stuck in a soft cell, shivering with fear.

"Thank you, Raven, apology accepted."

Beastboy, feeling brave, decided to press the matter he'd been thinking about. "So, uh, are you, like, finding any use for our, uh, sessions?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, is it helping you too that we talk?"

Raven thought about it for a moment, but then decided to go for the diplomatic answer, unsure of Beastboy's direction. "Of course they help me. It's always good to empty out the bottled up emotions."

"No, like, I mean, don't get this the wrong way, but does it feel good to be helping me?"

Raven saw his bad choice of words, and easily looked past it.

"I guess you could say so. I never really thought that taking counselling was something I'd be good for. If anything, I'd be at the receiving end. But now that you put it that way, it does feel good to be taking care of you, Beastboy."

In that moment, something happened inside of the changeling. As if something massive was suddenly shifted inside. Those words seemed like the key to some mysterious inner workings of his emotions, and now that they fell on his ears, they seemed to bounce off all the right places. It was as if gravity itself shifted slightly towards the empath walking beside him, like a tendril suddenly connected them. "Raven is taking… Care of me." The words sent a warm wave through his body. They sounded oddly out of place, but good. He shivered with delight.

When they got to his room, Raven remembered her dream from the morning. She used her powers to extend the mail slot so that she cut out a pretty large panel from his door. A few holes and wires, borrowed from the door control carcass, and his door had a nice hatch that they could use to either bring him food, or talk in person without him letting her in.

She was about to leave, when she found herself suddenly stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her. Beastboy was awkwardly hugging her from behind. When he let her go, she turned to face him, cocking an eyebrow in question.

"It's just… Thanks… Again…"

Raven's blush was being contained up to this point, but there was no mistaking the redness of her face as she muttered a shaky "You're welcome," and made for her room.

Beastboy felt embarrassed, but ultimately satisfied. He decided to try out the hatch, and he morphed into a bloodhound to push his way through the new entrance to his room. Therein he found the DVD player, turned off but still in its place. "Damn Cy." he said, a dash of pink still clinging to his lips.

Cyborg violently sneezed as he made his way through a maze of maize. "Oh man, am I allergic? This is bad. HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" He started to shout as he continued on.

Beastboy lay in bed, thinking of the erratic day he's just had. It seemed like everything was looking up. He buried his head in the pillow, ready to call it a day. His face turned a dark shade of maroon. The covers had a distinct scent of Raven to them. Unsure of what to do, he stayed in bed, blushing each time he inhaled until he succumbed to sleep.

 _THE BALL IS ROLLING, PEOPLE! As is bad spelling. Better butter my biscuit!_

A/N

Went a bit overboard on the length here, please don't let it raise your standards. We're finally reforming Cyborg and something magical is happening inside of BB. Yahoo.

So we'll finally being to see the development of what we're all here for. Whatcha guys think? I'd be happy to see your opinion on it! Also thanks for the reviews, I offer my own awkward hugs to you guys.

I'll probably be building up a couple of chapters now, I'll try to update ASAP, but it might take a bit to sort everything out, proof-read and pretty things up. So sit tight! Have a wonderful day.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I love the Disney Hecules scene where Hades is all like: Megara, I OWN YOU! Would like to say that to the TT in an alternate universe. (Nothing is mine!)

 _Previously:_

 _Cyborg got sent to Kansas as punishment for his crimes. Beastboy awkwardly hugged Raven. Hell froze over._

"Rob, get me outta here!" Cyborg was not happy. He had walked for 20 miles before his communicator was able to pick up a signal. He was mad - he had satellite access and everything, but the Titans' communicators still used the phone lines to transfer data. Above all, it was pitch-black because the sun had set a couple of hours ago.

Cyborg, wiping the sweat off of his brow, swore to himself to skewer Robin until he let him set up satellite communications.

"Roger, Cyborg. Wait - where are you?" Robin's diligent expression turned to perplexed as he noticed the background surrounding his teammate.

"Kansas."

"Wha- How? Why?"

"It's a long story, Rob, I've been walkin' for six hours, if y'all don't come get me I might just turn into a scarecrow."

Robin's eyes twinkled with amusement behind his mask. As much as he was puzzled about Cyborg's situation, he'd have to admit he didn't mind the mechanical Titan breaking a little sweat. The furious wrath he, the leader of the Teen Titans, had to endure after Cyborg provoked Starfire, was more than reason enough to have a temporary cynical attitude towards his friend.

The Titans' leader savored the feeling for a short time, but then cast it aside, knowing the seriousness of the situation. "Alright, Cyborg, we'll come get you. Just stay in signal range so I can track your position via the communicator."

"Nah, man, no need. The T-Ship has an onboard satellite uplink. It can relay my position, so you just follow the red dot on the screen and everything's gonna be peachy keen."

Robin sent out calls to Raven and Starfire to meet him in the common room. When he got there, Raven was already sitting in her usual spot, reading her book. Starfire came in right behind him. Robin cleared his throat to get their attention, then said:

"Cyborg's found himself someplace far away."

"Did someone Cyborg-nap him?" Starfire asked, bedazzled as to why their friend would wander off of his own volition.

"Starfire, one would still say "kidnap" even when not talking about kids." Raven helpfully advised.

The alien princess blushed a little at her mistake. Robin ignored the little exchange between the girls and tried to continue. Raven beat him to it, mustering her courage and slowly admitting what she had done.

"I accidentally sent him there after he…" Images of the short tape flashed through her mind, causing her to briefly pause to gather her thoughts before continuing, "played a rather distasteful prank on me and Beastboy."

Robin had a hard time controlling his curiosity. Starfire didn't even try. "Oh? Cyborg performed one of his practical jokes on you two?" She paused, considering her words for a second, and then inquired further, "... as they are rather famous, I would like to know more about it!"

Robin had been spending a lot of time trying to explain certain aspects of human communication to Starfire, who was a rather eager learner. She was only successful to a certain degree, however, and because not even he had the heart to be too strict with her, she would often believe that she has a better grasp on things than she actually did.

For example, Starfire was feeling pleased with herself for so subtly asking a general question about Cyborg's prank. She had carefully crafted her interest in the matter to pose it as an interest in the metallic man's antics, rather than the particular prank he had played on her friends. Robin had described this technique, indirect questioning, as very difficult to master. She would make her mentor proud.

Raven's hood mercifully hid a considerable hint of red that had crept up on her cheeks. "He, uh…" the empath stammered, her mind's cogs creaking under pressure, trying to quickly pull together a decent substitute story. "We'll figure those things out later, Starfire, for now, we have to plan our actions. Raven, since you teleported him there, could you get him back?" Robin quickly barged in, earning himself a thankful look from the violet-haired girl.

"I just teleported him far away in affect. I didn't particularly think about it. And to sum up the explanations - I can't teleport to him because I don't know where exactly he is."

Robin was afraid that would be the case. When he found out that Raven was the one who got Cyborg to where he was, he felt a bit of hope stirr up inside of him, but now it was immediately shot down.

"I see. Well then, Starfire and I will take the T-Ship and go find him. I need you to stay put and alert in case anything pops up. Also someone's got to keep an eye on Beastboy. I'm sure he'd be fine, but I'd prefer not to risk it anyway. It's night-time, so things should be quiet, but just in case something happens, I need you on the case."

Raven nodded in agreement. "I -... I'm really sorry for all of this. I didn't mean to let my anger get the better of me." She then added, feeling ashamed of herself for acting rashly.

Robin offered a kind smile: "I would have done the same thing in your place." He said in his best glorious leader voice, which seemed to spawn magnets on Raven's forehead and palm, as well as a mesmerized, admiring look on Starfire's face. "Let's go, then," he glanced at the red-haired alien and gestured towards the door. The duo took off towards the launch shaft in the basement.

This left Raven alone with her thoughts. Her shoulder blades, arms and abdomen were still warm with the changeling's hug, the taste in her mouth still bitter from the angry outburst. She decided to share the information with Beastboy and maybe try to get him out of his room, if only for a bit. She headed for his room.

The green Titan was standing behind his door, sweating bullets. His sharpened ears were checking for any sign of the other members of his team strolling the halls. While the main purpose of Cyborg's cunning ruse had been to implant a feeling of utter embarrassment and tension between his friends, the scheme had managed to have an adverse effect not even Cyborg's strategic genius could have accounted for. Beastboy's stomach grumbled in dissatisfaction, causing more beads of sweat to pop out of his forehead. The exercise he got from running for his life had re-awakened his dormant digestive system.

He was sure that he was fuller than the tower's trash chute at this point, and the bathroom, the promised land, was calling to him. The obstacle was, of course, a full guard of Jump City's heroes, standing between him and sweet relief.

Beastboy nearly fainted when two knocks disturbed his inner cold war. "Y-yes?" He mustered after a few seconds passed. "Beastboy, Robin and Starfire have gone to pick up Cyborg."

"Oh… Really?"

"Yup. And that means…" Raven found herself struggling with her words. It annoyed her to no end that Cyborg the subterfuge had managed to pitch so much tensity between her and Beastboy. If anyone was to blame for the changeling's late recovery, it was definitely the tin man. Raven would usually stop right there, allowing the other person to finish the connection and overcome the awkwardness.

She didn't know when she picked up that habit, but it just appeared out of thin air some day. She would explain it to herself as "testing" people, to see if they're even invested in the interaction. Lately, she'd taken on a new perspective on the matter. She now believed, instead, that it might have to do with her insecurity. She wouldn't want to be a bother to the person and - if something wasn't urgent or on a professional basis - she'd be reluctant to engage the interaction herself.

Talking to a shut-in, however, required Raven to go past her somewhat timid nature, which had been nurtured and justified with the way her powers worked. When someone shuts the door on you, you're forced to take the initiative, hold and guide a longer conversation, and keep a person interested for long enough to try and work with them to overcome their problem.

She experienced a personal growth in that regard. Raven had been the quiet and reserved person on the team, but now she knew that she could also make good conversation. This line of thought ended in a place she disliked though. Malchior the dragon. The only other time she could recall off the bat, where she held so many continuous conversations. For now, she needed to make the thought go away temporarily. Talking to Beastboy was the perfect solution.

This is why Raven boldly decided to follow up on her sentence and invite Beastboy to talk to her. In that second, the doors swooshed open and all she saw was a flash of black, purple and green. The shapeshifter darted for the bathroom. "...We're alone in the tower…" Raven automatically continued. But Beastboy already knew that. It's basic math that five minus three is two, and other such things.

Raven decided that a cup of herbal tea was in order, and possibly some waffles to take care of her current state of mild distress. The day had done no wonders for her and she needed a break. For some reason, though, she would not let herself go to bed just yet. She knew that this was her chance to get Beastboy to stay out of his room for some time. The other looming matters would also dissipate as long as the green Titan was around. She knew that as soon as she'd be alone with her thoughts, nightmares would be inbound.

Shuddering at the thought, she proceeded to mix some of Beastboy's waffle batter while her batch was in the iron. For the first time in a very long while, Raven actually wanted company more than solitude.

Beastboy waltzed in through the automatic door. He was sparkling like a princess, feeling as fresh as if he'd just been beamed down from the heavens via rainbow. "Something smells good!" He exclaimed, walking over to the empath.

Raven realized another thing. While she really did need company, it was only when the changeling was around that she'd realize the devastating effects of Cyborg's actions. You could almost slice the atmosphere with a knife as the two stood in silence for a few long seconds. "Here." Raven offered him a plate of waffles. The jam was strawberry this time.

The empath couldn't help but ask: "You prefered the common room over your own du-?" She stopped herself, remembering that Beastboy's room had been cleaned. "Uh, heh, sorry Raven, didn't mean to… Interrupt or anything." He immediately retreated towards the door. Raven intervened: "No, I meant it in a good way. Welcome to the common room." She unceremoniously proclaimed. Beastboy chuckled at her sarcasm. It made Raven feel good. The good feeling made Raven feel confused. The confusion made Raven angry. The anger made her confused.

"Heh, heh, I don't think you'll be needing ALL of the teacups!" Beastboy quietly chirped, referring to the levitating ceramics.

Raven calmed down and the cups were placed back. She still seemed distraught. "Raven, wanna play some video games?"

Her vocal chords, teeth and lips already prepared for her breath to come, to shape it into a "no". A simple task really, one she had done around about exactly 100 percent of the time when the question was inevitably brought up. Instead she somehow managed to screw up a basic human function, and a "Yes." fell out of her mouth instead.

A pink-clad emotion cackled in her head, running in small circles, while the green-clad one punched her hand in the air, cheering her on with a "Yeah!"

Raven decided that, if she survived the gaming session, the personifications of her emotions wouldn't live to regret it.

The duo massacred the waffles and then sat on the couch, with Beastboy handing out the controllers. He had decided to show Raven a cooperative game mode he and Cyborg were too competitive to really get into. The shapeshifter then went deep into explanations of game mechanics and the reason why he and Cyborg simply weren't compatible to play that game mode, as opposed to himself and Raven, who apparently were, according to his best judgement.

Raven tried to follow him on the subject, but found his frequent use of game jargon breaking her attention. She instead observed Beastboy as he passionately reconstructed the many instances of himself and Cyborg playing the game. The stories were trivial, biased and were focused more on making Cyborg look like an evil villain than actually getting a point across. (A/N: To the people screaming IRONY! Here… I'm sorry.)

What fascinated the empath was the way Beastboy told the stories. She had witnessed him doing this on many occasions, but because she was uncomfortable, annoyed, and in her masking character, she ignored it as much as possible. She had no reason to do so now - quite the contrary. Beastboy needed someone to listen to him to help him recover from his problem. Right now, he looked far more like his old self. Unscathed by the recent events, happy and cheerful.

It struck Raven how much good his mood did for her. The way he moved, flailing his hands. The thousands of expressions, lasting from microseconds to half a minute, all of those were there to make his story come alive. His body seemed to glow with enthusiasm and good vibes. This was the Beastboy who could keep them, a grim bunch of solemn teenagers, a happy group.

When he finally sat down and the game actually began, she had a hard time focusing on the screen. It didn't help that she wasn't especially good at the game, either. She did very decently for a beginner, but Beastboy did most of the heavy lifting regardless, defending her from some enemies, and sometimes covering what they verbally set as "her" side of the screen.

It was rather fun, however. Even though they weren't exchanging words, the game was a great idea, in both of their opinions. Beastboy felt so good, being able to help, teach and even protect Raven in the scenario. He felt responsible, making sure that the enemies wouldn't get her character.

At some point, he couldn't help but exclaim: "Not my Raven, not on my watch!"

The little slip-up caused them both to blush a little, and continue in silence. They beat a couple of levels, but when Beastboy couldn't keep up with the incoming hordes of enemies, the duo quickly met their untimely demise.

"Well?" He asked, looking her way.

"One more?" Raven asked, sounding far more hopeful than she'd wanted.

"Now you're talkin'!"

Raven was also liking the game. She was frustrated with how useless she was at first, but then, when Beastboy killed a particular nasty which she didn't see coming, her perspective shifted. Suddenly, she didn't feel bad relying on him. He needed it after all. Filled with understanding, she decided to ask for help when she needed it. "Over here, I can't get them." She'd say. Beastboy's character gracefully waltzed in and shredded them.

It was a special, interesting interaction she hadn't anticipated when she somewhat unwillingly accepted his request. It kept her busy - she didn't hate the game at all. But it was also helpful to Beastboy's cause, and for Raven, that was reason enough.

The next round started up without questions. A few times, the few would exchange glances to see if the other one was still up for the fight, and when their eyes met, they were glad to see their spirit matched. The hands on the clock, however, mercilessly moved on, pushing deep into nighttime.

Raven woke up to a soft buzzing noise. When she came to her senses, she realized that Beastboy's head was resting on her lap. This startled her a little, but she recovered quickly. She looked over to the source of the noise. Her communicator had an incoming call. She answered.

"Yes?" Raven whispered.

"This is Robin. Bad news."

"What happened?"

"Thunderstorm. Hit one of the engines. We managed to find Cyborg, and he's now working to fix it. It shouldn't take more than two hours. -"

"FOUR!" Yelled a very agitated Cyborg from the background. Robin's face twitched considerably as raindrops poured onto his face.

"Four more hours and then another two or so to get back."

Raven's eyes turned to the clock on the display. Half past three in the morning. The others wouldn't be back until late in the morning.

"Ok, Robin. Good luck. If you need anything, call."

"Thanks, Raven. Did you check on Beastboy?"

Raven hoped he couldn't see the scarlet shade her face had turned. "Yep, he's fine. See you in the morning."

"Roger. Robin out."

The communicator screen went blank, and she put it back on the arm of the couch. She started to move, trying to escape from under the changeling, sleeping peacefully.

She stopped, looking at his features. She found it fascinating, as she examined his elf-like ears, his green hair, and the fang protruding from his lips. Raven didn't remember when she had the chance to last look at a face from this close up for so long. She felt like she'd been staring for an eternity before she extracted herself from under him, and tucked a pillow beneath his cheek.

She shut off the blinding tv, which was still on game over, as the two Titans managed to fall asleep in the middle of a game. A blanket was levitated from a cupboard nearby, covering the sleeping changeling on the couch. Raven grabbed her communicator, set an alarm clock for the morning, and left the sleeping Beastboy to go sleep in her own room.

The day had been awfully long and eventful. She needed a good rest, and first thing after breakfast, she'd give her emotions a very thorough talk about making her do things she wasn't supposed to do.

 _Wowsies! (What is grammar)_

A/N: Whoosh! Sorry for taking so long to upload, but this one's a bit longer to compensate, and I hope you guys enjoyed it.

You might be asking: Y U NO make bigger fuss out of him sleeping on her lap? Like Raven freaking out, or BB freaking out even more, or the team walking in on the sleeping couple.

I just… Nah, man, the fluff was totally worth it, you've gotta admit!

So yes, things are making progress. RaeRae's got a bit of a bone to pick with her emoticlones. Usually, they're the ones to break the news to Raven (Oh, how many times has it been that Knowledge laid down the truth on Raven? Or a mysterious, new emotion, Love/Lust/Affection, mysteriously appeared). To kill all of your hopes, it won't be just like that. It might come close at times, but again, it's a cheap cop-out much like the Cyborg dating advice (in my humblest of opinions). But to belay your fears, we're not turning them into villainous troublemakers either.

Not really a spoiler. I wanna be quite transparent about the direction of the story so as not to raise your hopes. I encourage criticism, and would love to hear your opinion on this, it means loads to me.

On that note, I love your reviews, they are such a strong driving force for this, you don't even know. Thank you. Stay awesome. Have a wonderful day, I'm out.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I disclaim the Teen Titans. ...What? That means something else? Okay, okay. I do not own it, no sir!

 _Previously:_

 _Raven took to her bed after Beastboy fell asleep in her lap._

The obnoxious alarm tune of the communicator sliced through Raven's thick sleep like a hot knife through butter. She mentally groaned and sat up, blindly feeling for the loud, wretched thing.

Robin and Cyborg had settled on two options - basic alarm and soft harp music. Raven grew tired of the basic alarm and switched to harp a long time ago, but now the harp was annoying as well.

The fact that she had only gotten four hours of sleep after that uncomfortable nap on the couch wasn't helping either. Deciding to get on with the day, she got out of bed and looked at a chest of drawers where the mirror leading into Nevermore usually resided.

After Beastboy and Cyborg had their little adventure visiting her mind, she always felt a spot of relief, finding it in its proper place. Deciding that the only way was the lazy way, she used her powers to grab it.

After a short chant of mantra and a quick trip through nightmare vortex, she found herself in the asteroid limbo of her mind.

Through careful training in Azarath, her mind had a path laid out in which she could meet all of her emotions in a specific order. Happy was first, as it was an inviting positive emotion, and a good starting point in building a world inside her mind.

Next up was Timid, the emotion she was faced with the most during those fragile years. The complex labyrinth that the emotion resided in was reflective of how lost she had felt, being hated for things she wasn't guilty of.

It took Raven a great deal of time to even get past the emotion to further structure her mind. Brave, contrasting timidity, was the next logical choice. After accepting life's hardships and cutting one's losses, courage forms as a driving force to find new meaning and purpose.

That came in the form of Knowledge, Raven's personal favorite. The pursuit of knowledge from reading books and performing spells were the center points of that period in her life. The only praise and satisfaction the empath got was when she was a successful student of the monks.

Then there was Rage. Rage was the first emotion that introduced itself, and which struggled for control rather than help Raven. Her anger was something she'd battle with a great deal, and she still found her irritation to turn to rage all too quickly.

Some other emotion embodiments, namely Rude, Passion and Sloth, all came in by themselves at relevant times as well.

After lots of daily training, however, Raven had become very skillful in mastering her mindscape, adjusting it to her will. She might still lose control of Nevermore on occasion, But it was very unlikely.

With a set topic in mind, Raven rallied her emoticlones. For the last few days, she'd been blowing up very frequently, teleporting Cyborg to less than ideal places twice and nearly murdering Beastboy just because he didn't tell her about something relatively minor and unimportant.

On the other hand, she felt like her reaction to Beastboy's, albeit sincere, words of appreciation, were disproportionate to what they should be. Raven felt far too much about his praise and her inconsistency annoyed her slightly.

"Hey Raven, nice of ya to get... In touch with your emotions!"

Happy chirped, hugging her on her own cue.

"Or did you come to... Wrestle with your thoughts?"

Continued Brave, taking up a fighting stance.

"Knowledge, what's with the puns?" Raven demanded. Though she tried to sound unphased by the antics of her other emotions, her voice subtly revealed murderous intent.

"It's a bit of a long story, but I'll try to summarize: your company is rubbing off on you."

Rude and Sloth were doing a romantic dinner reenactment. They picked the other's nose and then fed the other the contents. Raven winced. Brave was teaching Happy obscure fighting techniques. Rage and Timid were absent.

"Excuse the ruckus, let's go to my place. Timid would like to talk." The yellow-clad Knowledge politely offered. Raven nodded, and the duo was teleported to the giant library where Knowledge usually resided.

"I'm guessing you want to know why we're blushing at Beastboy's comments."

This is why Raven liked Knowledge the best. She was down-to-earth and not constantly distracted or unfocused.

"Exactly."

"Timid would like to talk about it."

Raven thought that was unusual. Timid was, well, timid by nature, and even after spending an awful lot with her, her words were still sparse. That is, if she spoke at all. Even then, they were riddled with apologies and grim reminders of Raven's past mistakes. Timid was not the one for constructive conversation, as the blue-clad empath had confirmed on many occasion.

"Okay."

The gray-robed girl joined them, emerging from a corner where she'd been hiding.

"Timid," Raven paused, constructing a sentence. One thing she'd learned in her interactions with the emoticlones is that being direct and specific was the only way to get her answers. Otherwise, she was doomed to listening to the endless inner musings of the emotion at hand.

"Why are Beastboy's acts of kindness such a big deal?"

Timid was surprisingly quick with her reply, only making Raven endure one painfully long second of awkward silence.

"We're... Helping him. It's as if we're apologizing for everything we did wrong to him. And he accepts us. Even after we tried to kill him, and teleported his best friend... That is, hiis bastard maniac a-"

Timid's eyes became fiery, but she managed to stop herself abruptly, calming down considerably before continuing.

"to... To Kansas, he still played videogames with me and slept in my lap."

Of course Timid would go for the apology comparison. Raven also noted how the emotion switched to singular forms and a very non-timid expression as she muttered the last sentence.

It made sense. The comfortable conversations she was having with him, the way they were opening up to each other. All of those things were right up Timid's alley. Judging by the way she referred to Cyborg, the gray-cloaked emoticlone was also probably responsible for the anger outbursts.

Timid droned on: "And the way he protected us in the game yesterday just further shows how much he cares..."

"Thank you, Timid." Knowledge stopped her, seeing Raven deep in thought. Beastboy, more accurately, Beastboy's actions were apparently pleasing Raven's timid side considerably. This was weird, but not unheard of.

Malchior, Raven's last attempt at opening up to a person, ended in disaster. After it ended, she had focused only on cutting all connections and shutting herself in. She could deal with everything herself. In her eyes, the world was a one-vs-all, kill or be killed.

A peculiar thing happened that day, however. Of all people, it was Beastboy who reminded her that she was completely mistaken. That not all people should automatically be labeled as her enemies.

In fact, as Raven later realized, it was this type of thinking that had caused people to discriminate against her. And she was adopting that very way of thought! She was about to declare everyone an enemy. But Beastboy, rather than lecture, moralize or criticize her, completely stumped her direction of thought in one fell swoop.

He told her she was not alone. This was the big difference between what opening up to the evil dragon and the green shapeshifter meant for her. With Malchior, she did it for no apparent reason. She would later come to realize that the reasons were malicious. He wanted to take advantage of now knew that the way she fascinated him out of the blue and off the bat were sure signs that he wanted to manipulate her. Signs she stubbornly ignored.

Beastboy showed no such intent. They were only sharing these things as a consequence of circumstance. She had some motivation to trust him, so that he could trust her. In essence, her role was reversed.

She was a lot like Malchior, trying to get close to Beastboy to achieve a goal. The huge difference was in the goals themselves. Malchior's was his rebirth. Raven's was rehabilitating Beastboy.

Another thing Raven noticed was that while Malchior played multiple emotions, from Knowledge's thirst for information, to Timid's need to be accepted, to Passion's romantic pursuits, Beastboy did nothing of the kind. Spending time with him didn't give her promises of forbidden magic or cuddling sessions.

It was clear that at least a part of Raven, Timid, liked Beastboy, and thought a great deal of him. This didn't particularly phase Raven herself, however. A certain emotion would always think fondly of a particular person. Happy adored Starfire and it had been her dream to meet her for a tea party. Brave was often found drooling over Robin. Passion was the worst offender in this sense, having a new pet peeve almost every month.

Her emotions represented extreme states of mind. For example, Raven would never act like Rude or Sloth. Rage was the prime example, though. If she had acted on the impulses of that emotion, Earth as we know it would be long gone. It was only natural that she truly respected people in different regards and that her emotions would take that admiration to the extreme.

Timid was a bit of a special case in that sense. It wasn't just about treasuring Beastboy's positive qualities. The monkey on her back owed much to his actions, and their interplay, which satisfied Timid's cravings across the board. Enough so to cause her to fall out of character and take over in situations where further talks with Beastboy might be compromised.

This left Raven in an odd spot. It was tempting to toss Timid's muses aside as she would in any other situation. However, now that her reactions had been affected by the emotion a few times, it was also time to have a serious conversation. A looming task that Raven always tried to put off until the last possible moment, simply because of how embarrassing and narrow-minded the emotions could get.

"Timid, listen." Raven started, finally breaking through her own unwillingness. Safe is better than sorry. "I understand that you feel like Beastboy is extremely important…"

Raven's sentence was cut in half by a shocked stare of disbelief from the emoticlone. "What." She deadpanned, waiting for the response.

"Raven, he IS extremely important to us. To me."

Raven held back a groan of frustration. Timid was completely obliterated with her teammate. "Timid, I understand that's the way you see it. But consider it for a second. With our past, do you think he'd actually accept us?"

It was tough for Raven to cheap out like this. The fake conviction in her words nearly worked for a second. "No, Raven, this is different. You know it yourself, he isn't just some person. If, even after everything we've told him, he's still kind and understanding, it's proof that he wouldn't do that to us."

Timid had a good point. Beastboy was not just anyone to Raven, rather he was an important friend. Maybe even her most important friend at the time. But this wasn't even the topic of discussion.

"Maybe he's just being polite so we don't send him off to places of eternal darkness and torture?"

Raven tried, hoping to convince her emotion to stop being so linear. Timid would have none of it. "You mean like your room? Maybe if we weren't so creepy." A vein popped out of Raven's forehead. The gray-clad girl was sounding like a lovestruck idiot. Ready to criticize even herself in order to defend the object of her affection. Seeing even a slither of herself in Timid rubbed Raven the wrong way.

"Perhaps, if I may, this isn't the right way, Raven? Why not just tell her about your problems up front and try to talk it out?" Knowledge helpfully intervened. Even surprising herself, Raven managed to calm down. Her anger was manageable, despite the situation. Timid seemed to be behind the rage outbursts after all.

"Look, Timid, the thing is, we can't be nasty to Cyborg like that. We don't need to get angry over little things," Raven tried to convey her thoughts in a simple, straightforward manner. She continued with her other problem: "and when Beastboy commends something we do, it's not a blessing from a higher being. It's just a compliment. Don't take it too seriously." She finished by saying: "Point is, just try to stay calmer. It'll do us all a great deal of good."

Timid looked unconvinced and somewhat defensive.

"That way we can talk to him way more?" Raven tried. This seemed to have struck a nerve with Timid, as a look of inner turmoil crossed her face - she was considering her options.

"Did Passion say anything?" the empath turned to Knowledge while Timid pondered on her thoughts. "Nope. She didn't even comment the video."

Raven thought this was interesting. Passion would typically have a field day on such an occasion. Her lack of activity was probably due to Raven's lack of thinking on the topic, but nevertheless, it wasn't a common sight to see such an impulsive and active emotion remain so dormant. Then again, Knowledge might be desensitized by the general state of uproar, which plagued Nevermore constantly, and Passion was happily sowing seeds of destruction all about the place.

After the problems Raven ran into with Timid's lack of cooperation, however, dealing with another emotion slipped deep down her list of priorities.

Turning to Timid, she asked again: "Are we clear now? If we want to spend time with Beastboy we have to stop being brash and take good care of our friends."

Timid simply nodded, though still uncharacteristically dissatisfied and stubborn. She returned to her reclusive posture and even sported her scaredy face, though with a hint of defiance still burned in her eyes. Raven knew the emoticlone was back in order, however, and just needed some time to accept it.

The gray-clad emotion took off, leaving Raven alone with Knowledge again. The latter spoke up: "That boy really is doing a number on us, though. And not in a bad way. Sure it's difficult work, but…" She trailed off, searching for the right words. Raven looked at her in intrigue.

"It's good for us. I haven't seen the others this relaxed and happy in a long time. You know best, Raven, that I'm the most sceptical of us all. Beastboy erased my doubts that time, though. If there's anyone beside you I truly trust, it'd have to be him."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked, though she knew exactly what Knowledge was talking about.

"I mean exactly what I say. Though, again, you already know that. Back when he told us we were not alone."

"Not you too…" Raven sarcastically sighed.

"Don't twist my words. He didn't try to make it pretty for us. He didn't try to convince us into anything. By just being there, he proved us, no, he proved you wrong, Raven. On that day, you were sillier than Beastboy. Honestly, I don't know why you'd ever insult his brain after that."

"You're putting too much weight on one event. It could just as well have been Starfire, Cyborg or even Robin saying that. Would you say the same things about them?" The blue-clad empath was not convinced.

"I was trying to present the turning point, the moment I made up my mind about him. Before, and after that, he'd showed off his good qualities innumerable times. You know that."

"Like when?" Raven pressed.

"Stuffed chicken. Lucky penny. But that's beside the point. Why would you try to argue with me on the matter? You know all of these things. Are you in denial?"

"No, but I don't connect these things necessarily to a romantic relationship." Raven's answer made Knowledge feel like someone had just handed her a free cookie.

"Nobody said anything about romantic relationships, Raven." The empath was shocked at her own words.

"No, I didn't-"

"Now, now, Rae. Shall I call Timid? You could start a fanclub."

"Stop."

"I'm just messing with you. I'm not going to say anything. But if you start growing a thing for him, I'm not doing anything to stop it either."

This was not surprising to Raven. The convictions of her emotions were usually unshakeable, even when faced with solid reason. She didn't quite expect Knowledge to fall for what she believed was a logical fallacy. What she failed to notice, however, was that while the other emotions held a certain fondness towards specific people because they worked well with their particular characteristics, Knowledge had significantly different reasons for her attitude about the matter.

Knowledge, unlike Timid for example, didn't focus her feelings on Beastboy. She simply took the different factors into consideration. It was a matter a simple formula or algorithm could perform. The conclusion? Falling for Beastboy wasn't theoretically a bad idea, at least from the things Knowledge could estimate to be valid information.

Raven, instead of asking Knowledge about the aspects she included in her judgement, automatically assumed that it was just another one of her emoticlones' quirks.

That is not to say that it didn't have an effect on the violet-haired girl. Knowledge's words were not surprising for the personification of one of her emotions, but the thought of falling for Beastboy managed to stick out enough to wedge itself in her mind.

While the two Ravens stared at each other, the "real" Raven's mind tried to construct a situation where she was in a relationship with Beastboy. At first, it seemed like an impossible task. Most scenarios were laughable at best, disastrous at worst. More and more of them were tossed aside, however.

Their conversations played a large part in this. Their capacity to trust and respect the other was chewing through the possible scenarios, tossing them aside as irrelevant. Like a chess master, imagining the possible outcomes of a certain layout, her mind tore through the possibilities.

For some reason, Raven had a store of readily accessible reasons for their proposed relationship to go to hell in a handbasket. Coming up with reasons why she and Beastboy couldn't work was like taking candy from a baby - simple in theory, but it wouldn't be quite so in a real life situation.

He's too childish? She could never say that after talking to him. Her complete opposite? Maybe to a clueless outside observer, but certainly not to her. She couldn't keep her emotions in check? That one seemed to hold the most water, but it was still closer to wishful thinking. Raven would turn into the bane of light-bulbs if such feelings appeared at all. If anything, looking for someone who understands her would be optimal in that regard.

"Again, this doesn't mean that you have feelings for him, you know."

Knowledge finally pushed through the inexistent veil between the two. This was all Raven needed. What Knowledge said didn't have to mean anything at all; Raven could go about living her life just as she had been.

Raven thanked Knowledge kindly, and then made for her mind's exit at a nearby portal. She decided to put her thoughts away temporarily, instead focusing on a short-term goal. Beastboy needed to be woken up and moved to his room before Robin and the others returned.

Cyborg, Robin and Starfire were finally taking off in the T-Ship, all three extremely grouchy, sleepy. They plotted the course for the tower, turned on the autopilot and let the massive vehicle take them home. Everything was going according to the schedule from last night, and they would be home in just a couple of hours, ready to grace their beds fully and sleep for the rest of the day.

 _But there ain't no rest for the wicked. Or the bad grammar._

A/N: Sorry for the breaks between updates, the rest of the story is being written, the chapters somehow end up a bit longer, and it takes them longer to get out. Thanks for keeping up, more to come soon. Much love to you guys, have a good one.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

 _Previously:_

 _Raven made her way out of her mind, deciding it was high time to get Beastboy out of the way before the others arrived._

Back in the real world, Raven decided to get Beastboy out of the common room before the three remaining Titans returned. They would surely be aggravated and cranky from the sleepless, long night brought upon them by Cyborg's short excursion.

The door swished open, and Raven entered. The common room was as marvellous as ever. The morning sun, pouring through the windowed wall, made the room bright and inviting. The violet-haired girl found herself hit by a wave of nostalgia. Thoughts along the lines of "all the memories," were sailing through her mind, filling her with comfortable feelings. For the first time in a while, Raven felt truly content.

She quietly walked over to the couch to check on Beastboy. The green boy was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by his observer. He was hugging the blanket Raven had covered him with the night before. The only sound he made was the occasional soft snore. His face bore a look of serenity, something that Raven was pleased to see. She imagined that Beastboy probably had trouble sleeping due to his problems, but this morning, it seemed he was spared.

The blue-clad empath wasn't too big on watching people sleep most of the time. But she made the exception, in face of the impact Beastboy was having on her life. "You've been quite the handful lately..." she thought to herself, her gaze focused on the changeling's sleeping face.

It seemed like a long time had passed since Beastboy initially cut himself off from them. In reality, it was less than a fortnight, but to Raven, it seemed like months. She keenly remembered the excellent conversations and good times she'd shared with Beastboy. Other memories she was less fond of also came to mind, but she dismissed them with as little as a tiny blush or a shade of a frown.

Beastboy had, unintentionally taken her on an emotional roller coaster ride that challenged the one she'd had with Malchior. And while Raven was used to intense emotional experiences, they were usually not good. In fact, most, if not all were just varying degrees of bad, for the better part of her life. The episode, or rather, episodes, that she and Beastboy had shared over recent events were very bright and positive in comparison. Raven fell deep in thought

Raven had achieved reasonable success as a superhero. She used her powers for the good of other people, protecting their lives and serving justice as a Titan.

Yet somehow, she wasn't widely regarded as someone "likeable". And while Raven didn't concern herself with opinions of her, held by people she didn't even know, it gave her a certain impression of herself. Even to herself, the empath was a dangerous weapon which just so happened to point at the bad guys. People don't fear an enemy cannon considerably less when it's pointing the other way.

To the general public, she was a volatile asset, which was temporarily under control. This was reflected in everyone's treatment of her - they were afraid of her.

However, the mere fact that she helped an individual as a caring friend, conflicted fundamentally with the previous notions. If Raven was, in fact, a ticking time bomb, why would she be a good person to anyone? She could just as well impulsively and instinctively follow her desires, and only use her powers in ways that would satisfy her, or the people fulfilling her needs.

The bottom line is, if Raven was that sort of person, she would not go out of her way to help someone in that sense if it didn't immediately benefit her. That is an action befitting of a good person.

Previously, she didn't think of this in these terms. She was helping Beastboy primarily because he was her friend, not as an act of self-redemption. She didn't care if people would view her badly for comforting a stalker, nor did she want their praise for helping a dear friend. She simply wanted Beastboy to be back to normal. But that begged the question: "why?"

Many people, when they would fail to find a conclusive reason, fabricate one for themselves. We cannot blame Raven for not taking into account the random, small events which shaped the happenings of the past few says. Nor can we scold her for failing to consider all of her individual thoughts throughout the time she spent nursing Beastboy's mental health.

And maybe it was the long conversations she had just shared with her emotions, or perhaps the way the sunlight fell on his sleeping form. Maybe it was his peaceful expression, or even his pointy ears.

It was as if something fell into her eye, like a contact lens of some sort, and it affected her view of the sleeping boy monumentally.

With every emotion and fond memory Raven had connected to Beastboy lined up just right for but a split second, an event almost as unlikely as a six-sided die landing on seven. Almost. The intricate web of memories and feelings aligned. Like a sign made of light bulbs, lighting up and spewing sparks, the whole thing lit up and clouded her thinking. On that morning, Raven developed romantic feelings for Beastboy.

It was not exquisite enough to be called love, yet not quite as abrupt as a simple crush. It was just a new way of looking at him. Raven wasn't quite aware of everything going on inside of her. All she knew was that she had become unusually excited and somewhat embarrassed at the sight of Beastboy. Her heart ever so slightly fluttered when she resumed her stare after averting her eyes.

Raven's reaction confused her. She wasn't supposed to be having these emotional hiccups anymore, not after having gone through a painful conversation with Timid. She hesitated. It was most likely her emotions acting up again. The sudden chills she had felt a moment earlier were probably due to the changes in her subconscious mind as it adjusted. It wasn't possible that she was falling for Beastboy. Right?

With Knowledge's words still fresh in mind, Raven felt the need to analyze every minuscule action she had made. She wanted to search for evidence against the case that she liked Beastboy. She had to prove Knowledge wrong in order to continue being relaxed around him.

What would she do if she suddenly became nervous and twitchy every time he was around? A minor concern popped up that their further sessions would be nightmarish at best. It grew, however, as Raven slowly crafted a story of following events in her mind. Beastboy notices that she's acting strange. He asks her about it. She tries to evade the question. After considerable drama, she's forced to tell him everything about how her emotions view him.

From then on, the fear of the unknown was enough to severely impede Raven's logical reasoning. She had found herself in a situation where not doing anything was the worst course of action, since as she viewed it, it was only a matter of time before something happens. What would happen, Raven didn't know, but it was some kind of bad she couldn't predict.

The empath felt cornered. It was an awful feeling to be having in the midst of a peaceful room with a sleeping person in front of you. Not just any sleeping person, however. The person your very representations of selves were completely willing to fall for.

At this point, Raven was nervously racking her mind for a way out of the situation. "How could I prove that I'm still okay with him around? How would my emotions know that I'm in control?" Raven reached out for more obscure and extreme options.

"Maybe if I hold his hand, and stay calm, they will get it."

Raven tried not to laugh at her own idea. It was just about the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.

Beastboy stirred in his sleep, causing her to jump behind the couch, stifling a quiet yelp.

Maybe it wasn't the stupidest thing in the world after all. A tempest of emotions wreaked havoc through her. She was angry at herself and her emotions. She was excited and giddy. She was absolutely outraged at the last two emotions. Raven felt like smashing a hole in the wall with her head.

"I'm going to do it." She thought, bracing herself. She had to prove her emotions wrong. Raven was not a giggly school girl. The mere thought was disgusting. To what lengths she had to go, Raven thought, to show her emotions that she was better than that. Holding a sleeping boy's hand. Guilt was clenching her chest as she quietly tip-toed her way to his side.

"I'm sorry, Beastboy…" she thought, reaching down to the gloved hand resting by his body. Raven's face stayed serious, with more than a hint of frustration showing from her furrowed brow. She bit her lip and grabbed Beastboy's hand.

Raven's body lit up like a christmas tree. Hyperventilating and with a supersonic pulse, she barely maintained her composure in the first second. The sudden rush subsided quickly, and was slowly followed by periodical waves of embarrassment. The time between was filled, at first, with thoughts of pride. They were washed down, however, by the fact that she was blushing madly, and not in control of herself at all.

This was bad. She had tried to prove her emotions wrong, but was instead showing them right. Surely there had to be a reason why her plan had failed so tremendously, even after being so well thought out and foolproof.

Of course, it was the fact that she was in contact with another human being! This was an unusual feat for Raven. This was simply the way she felt, when she was touching any other human being. Obviously, the evidence wasn't conclusive and she'd have to do something truly unusual to prove her point.

"A peck on the cheek!" A voice in her head urged. Raven considered it. If she could stay calm through that, or perhaps even a tad disgusted, it would be perfect proof.

Tossing thoughts of invading Beastboy's privacy aside, Raven slowly and carefully leaned over his sleeping form, unintentionally holding her breath. His face slowly drew near, and Raven found herself somewhat hypnotized. Time itself seemed to slow down. Her face felt like it was on fire and her stomach felt like she had swallowed a blender.

Raven felt her lips touch his cheek. The blender exploded like a hand grenade. The one in the kitchen that is. The empath boosted out of the room, making a mad dash through the hallways and into her safe haven. Now in her room, Raven locked the door behind her and slid down the cold metal plate. Red as a chimney and with her hand over her mouth, Raven felt more than slightly dizzy at what she had just done.

Contrasting her grim mood was a myriad of cheerful emotions were doing a train dance in circles at their undisputable triumph.

Beastboy woke up to the sound of a blender exploding, followed by running footsteps and the doors opening and closing. He jumped up on the couch and looked around, scared senseless. After a few seconds of silence and scanning the room, he finally noticed the bits and pieces of their kitchen appliance strewn across the counter.

The changeling was perplexed to no end. What had happened? Where was Raven? What time was it?

As thoughts of Robin and the others finding him started popping up in his mind, Beastboy reprioritized getting to his room, deciding to focus on investigating later. He checked the clock. It was half past eight in the morning. He still had some time to give the blender a proper burial and put some breakfast together. Serving himself a large bowl of cereal, Beastboy walked back to his room, the door still open from Raven's visit last night.

He closed the door behind him and sat at his desk, enjoying his morning meal and thinking about the night before. Playing video games with Raven had been so much fun. Just like through their conversations throughout the days, they were pleasantly bonding while playing. He didn't remember when they turned off the game console, or whether or not he agreed to sleep on the couch. Beastboy didn't concern himself too much with it, however, simply assuming that he must have fallen asleep at some point during the gaming session. He made a point to thank Raven for the blanket later.

Beastboy felt like he was increasingly indebted to Raven for her care and kindness. He swore to somehow repay her for her kindness. The first step would be to face the team and show her that, with her help, he had recovered. He would make her proud, and show her that her work was good. Then, he would perhaps take her somewhere nice to show his gratitude. It was just a thought, but it motivated Beastboy to immediately start browsing the web for good places to show her.

 _Oh baby._


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: So you wanna be a hero, kid, well… I don't own the Teen Titans. Disclaimer II: It's late, excuse the previous joke. Still don't own the Teen Titans.

 _Previously:_

 _Raven got stung by a bug. A lovebug._

Raven had to get out of her room at some point. It wasn't a pleasant realization, and she sympathized with Beastboy briefly, before finally mustering her willpower and leaving. The team had returned, she could vaguely feel their presence with her powers. They were fast asleep, however, and would probably take a couple of hours to fully wake up, in light of the night they spent.

The empath decided to read her book in the common room until then, and afterwards, she would talk to Beastboy. She also decided that it was perhaps better if she didn't come clean about her endeavours straight away. She would tell Beastboy, some day, when they could laugh it off.

In spite of the state of things, Raven still felt a tinge of excitement thinking about sharing another conversation with the dormant changeling. She found her thoughts trailing off as she tried to focus on the words on paper. The blue-cloaked girl sat on the black couch in the living room, and while the sun lost its straight shot into the room, it still provided the light, seeing as the neon bulbs were off.

What would they talk about this time? What new revelations could she come to, both from what he told her from his knowledge and what he told her of himself. Raven never knew she would ever wish to interact with someone else, and now that it was happening, it felt foreign, new and different. She simply couldn't bring herself to hate the idea, nor to dismiss it as irrelevant and just business.

The hours ticked past quickly, as the power struggle between thoughts of Beastboy and the book at hand ran rampant through her mind. When Robin finally entered the room and knocked her out of her trance, it was already three in the afternoon. The changeling was most likely starving and Raven decided to bring him lunch.

The microwave found itself half full of vegan, and half full of regular lasagna. Raven carried the two plates to Beastboy's room, deciding they could eat lunch together, on the floor.

"Hello," she unsurely croaked at the door. Beastboy opened the hatch almost instantly. It startled Raven slightly, but she managed to look unphased.

"Hi, Raven!" Beastboy greeted cheerfully. He looked rather happy. The duo sat down and dug into the food. They ate in silence, rarely glancing up through the hatch. The few times their eyes met, a dash of pink was splashed on their cheeks. It was embarrassing, though neither knew why. The awkward atmosphere gradually grew to the point of becoming nearly unbearable.

"So… Last night was fun?" Beastboy tried to cut through the thick air. "Y-yeah." Raven answered slowly. The two sunk back into silence. The green teen was puzzled. Why was Raven acting this way? He was sure the two had been doing great with each other. Why was she acting differently all of the sudden. He decided to ask her.

"Hey Rae, what's bothering ya?"

Raven paled slightly, gulped down the lump in her throat and scrambled for an answer. "It's nothing in particular. I'm a bit drowsy from the long night."

"Oh, I see." Beastboy answered, but then realized that he'd need to do more than that to keep the conversation rolling, which is why he continued on. "When did you go to bed, then? I don't remember you leaving."

Raven, remembering the way the boy had slept in her lap, struggled to keep crimson off of her cheeks, to only moderate success.

"I also fell asleep. Then, Robin called in the middle of the night. The T-Ship had broken down and they had to repair it."

"Now that you mention it, is that why they weren't here this morning?"

"Yes."

"Heh, strange. I just assumed it took them that long to get there and back again."

"No, they had to spend the night out. I'm sure it wasn't good."

Beastboy answered reassuringly; "No worries Raven, it's not your fault. Cy deserved, and he's to blame if anything."

Raven didn't find shifting the blame all too comforting. "Still, I could have done better, that's what matters."

"You mean like Iowa?"

"No. And how is that any better?"

"What do you mean then, Raven?"

"I mean that…" Raven contemplated whether or not to share her problems with him. She didn't have much time and, deciding that for once she might as well discuss it and not bottle it up. While the time she spent weighing the decision made it about as premeditated as a mental coin toss, she felt confident that she had made the right choice.

"You know how I've been blowing up with anger lately?"

Beastboy nodded, though he really wasn't too convinced. Sure, Raven had lashed out at him when they viewed the embarrassing tape together, but he wasn't really exposed to the small outbursts, especially at Cyborg, that Raven had had. It was more of a gesture for her to continue, rather than of agreement.

"Well, my emotions, you know them, have been acting up somewhat."

"Aren't they usually acting up?" Beastboy asked, half jokingly.

"Usually, they are controllable, predictable and not difficult to deal with. Apparently, this time, it's different."

Beastboy, vaguely familiar with the residents of Nevermore, decided to ask who specifically was responsible for the ruckus. "Which Raven is causing trouble?"

"Timid," Raven answered, but when she saw the lack of understanding on his face, quickly added "the gray one."

Beastboy's face turned to the pleasure of understanding. "So," he bravely decided to press the matter. "What's up with Timid?"

"Not much. She's just moody." Raven knew it was high time to steer this conversation in the other, more general direction, or face dire consequences. Beastboy had no idea that the ship of their interaction was sailing at full speed towards an iceberg.

"What would you do if you were upset like that?" Raven asked, hoping that asking his opinion would redirect his attention.

"I'd try listening to my feelings, my instincts." Beastboy answered. It was a retort he had fashioned himself a long while ago, for when people would consult him about their feelings. Raven, on the other hand, wasn't too big on the whole "listen to your feelings thing," and if Beastboy had been aware of the implications at the time, he definitely would have spared her that particular piece of advice.

Nevertheless, Raven thanked him politely for his answer.

"How did you like the game?" Beastboy asked somewhat out of the blue.

"It wasn't too bad." Raven sincerely answered. It helped Beastboy make progress as well as waste a few hours. She didn't really mind, but Raven did not see herself becoming an avid gamer and reserving a plot of land on the couch to join Beastboy and Cyborg in their virtual adventures.

She wouldn't mind doing the same thing again some other time, however. "We should do it again…" she added, somewhat shyly.

Beastboy's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Dude, totally." He looked excited and impatient for their next try at the game station.

The discussion then slowly flowed back towards the book Raven was currently reading. It was a safe go-to topic, as Beastboy didn't really do much, and the empath could hardly uphold the conversation without help. Talking about something she knew well helped monumentally.

They were once again caught up in that wonderful flow, where time seemed to come to a grinding halt, accommodating them and the door between them in a little pocket dimension where hours lasted mere minutes. Before they knew it, it was dinner time. The two defeatedly settled on more waffles, after trying to imagine the results of a fridge raid. It only took a bit of brainstorming to realize that even opening the fridge was an awful idea, and that the two would have to make do with what they've got.

Finishing the second meal they ate together that day, the two started chatting about miscellaneous things like training, criminals, the other Titans and the weather. The last topic was less of an interest, and more of a fear that their pleasant conversation would at some point come to an end. The two's words were growing rarer and rarer, until they finally sat in silence, staring at each other while barely conscious. Their minds felt seamed together, in a lovely dance of exchanging information of various importance.

When they finished, it was already night time, and the other Titans were in bed again. The two whispered goodbyes and went straight to bed, both looking forward to their next meeting in the morning.

 _Off to bed. With the grammar. Or smth._

A/N:

HAYO! Sorry for the infrequent updates, and the somewhat short last two chapters. Life has been busy as ever and I'm barely squeezing these in.

Not to worry, however! More fruitful times are upon us, and you guys will definitely be getting more of that Raven therapy.

What's upon us? After Beastboy somehow manages to get back to as normal as he was, you know, talking to Robin and whatnot, it'll only be a few chapters before it's over. That means at least five more, around seven, I'd say, but no more than ten. Until then, enjoy, read and review, and have a wonderful day.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: WHY AM I STILL DOING THESE?

 _Previously:_

 _Raven and Beastboy were just finished having a nice evening chat about things._

Raven left for her room, and Beastboy made a mental point about closing the hatch and getting up. It was one of those promises one makes to themselves while pressing the snooze button early in the morning.

Beastboy's gaze was longing, fixed on the corner behind which a blue cloak had just disappeared. Light was filtering through the hatch from the hallway, drawing a sharp line between the small spot where the boy sat, and the rest of the dark room.

Beastboy could feel Raven's presence drain from within him. It seemed like his mind and body were in a special state around her. As if he had a certain "Raven" pose and accent and way of thought. Now that she had walked away, he could feel some of his muscles relax, and some others tense up. Some of his thoughts were suddenly running up against a wall. They changed direction, drawing his attention to other parts of his mind. Beastboy felt the Raven being flushed from him.

This brought on a very interesting revelation to the green boy. He was adjusting himself, his posture, mimic, word choice and even his way of thought while communicating with others.

The only major difference was that with everyone else, he had to make drastic changes from the start and then gradually loosen up, retreating to somewhere between the state his body held with that person, and the one he was in while alone.

With Raven, it had been quite the opposite. They started out with more or less no changes to themselves with each other. Their interactions were very rare, and when they did happen, they were very sincere and uncensored. Stemming from both Raven's conviction that their differences were too great and Beastboy's pure efforts to make her laugh, an unexpectedly healthy relationship arose as soon as the two put in just a dab of effort.

Now, with the added subconscious tension between the two, Beastboy was at about as "adjusted", as he'd be when talking to a nice stranger. He could only notice it when Raven left, when he changed back.

Beastboy still sat in the spotlight, analyzing the "Raven-less" feeling. By the time he got up it had developed into straight-up loneliness. The changeling trudged over to his bed, threw himself on his back and closed his eyes.

It was early morning, and the only bird up and chirping was none other than Robin. He had been away from jump for more than a couple of hours, which meant that there were police records to read and coffee to drink. As he sat and pondered over the few case files, occasionally tapping something into the keyboard awkwardly with one hand, he had a feeling of wonderful self-satisfaction growing inside of him. He was doing his job as a full-time hero with proper respect, enthusiasm and discipline. Understandably, it made him proud of himself. In a surge of sudden excitement and a feeling of power, Robin jumped up, landed in a cool pose, pushed his mask onto the bridge of his nose and, voice hushed, exclaimed: "Titans! GO!"

The sound of his office chair spinning was his answer. He maintained the pose for a few seconds while his enthusiasm slowly changed to embarrassment.

"Oh Robin." a voice, challenging that of professor Snape (or his hair) in slimy-ness, mused from behind him. Robin's heart raced - he was like a schoolgirl caught speaking to herself by her love interest. The leader of the Titans stood up, spinning around instantly. His office chair groaned in jealousy at the pirouette capabilities of the Boy Wonder.

Robin stifled his initial reaction, finally remembering that Cyborg had access to a Slade soundboard.

"Oh, hi Slade."

The mask on screen was silent.

"I bet this is gonna blow you away! It's my new secret move I've been practicing!"

Slade's face seemed unphased.

"Robin samba!" Robin yelled, breaking out into dance. Jumping from left to right, singing his own background music. Just as he was halfway through the chorus of Samba de Janeiro.

"Looks like you've really loosened yourself up, Robin. I would have kept you tight."

A loud explosion, followed by the sounds of alarm echoed through the tower. Robin froze in his dance pose, eyes wide as saucers.

The team leader regained his composure. "Cyborg, what the hell was that? What are you doing?"

"I wonder, is it that mask or that self-satisfaction making you so blind?" Slade continued. He nearly sounded angry.

"Not that it matters much. Enjoy the last few minutes of your life, Robin." he paused again. "Nice touch." his eyes flicked to the stars on Robin's boxers.

The familiar sound of Robot Commandoes being smashed to bits started spreading through the hallways. The team leader was dressed for the party in under a second, joining Cyborg and Starfire, who were already plowing through them en-masse.

"Robin! What's goin' on!?" shouted Cyborg, standing in front of his door, alternating between the sonic cannon and his fists as he prepared a robot salad in the hallway.

"We're under attack from Slade!"

Cyborg looked at him in mock disbelief: "Why, I never would have guessed, glorious leader!"

Half a dozen robots flew through the hallway, courtesy of an especially passionate punch from the alien princess. The trio fought their way through the oncoming stream of cannon fodder.

They seemed to be coming mostly from the common room. Robin decided they should investigate. The doors were peeled open, the room in disarray. There were rappelling ropes hanging down over the windows from which the Slade bots jumped periodically. Cyborg opened fire and shot the baddies coming down in a wicked game of Slade Invaders. Feeling that it was generally boring and repetitive, despite the fantastic graphic fidelity, the mechanical teen used his other hand to start preparing a bacon sandwich. Robin looked at him in astonishment.

"Cyborg, this is an emergency!"

"Rob, I've got this. 'Sides." Cyborg pointed at his stomach. "This too, is an emergency."

One of the gunships was apparently done unloading the troops and lowered itself to the window so it could unload its munitions as well. The loud gattling cannon roared, rounds spewing from its mouth. Robin dodged behind the couch, covering himself with his cloak. Starfire and Cyborg managed to avoid fire. The game system finally took fatal wounds.

The mechanical teen roared back in anger, shooting a particularly powerful blast at the cockpit, sending the helicopter spiraling down into the bay. The flames spilled over the water surface down below as individual, blackened pieces of metal sunk into the sea.

Then it was back to more robots to fight. The Bacon was finally done, squeezed between two slices of bread, dangling from Cyborg's mouth as he made quick work of the enemies.

"To the roof!" Robin commanded. Though the team leader didn't look awfully convincing, huddled up under his cloak behind the couch, Starfire and Cyborg still joined him when he dashed for the door.

"Starfire, go outside and fly up!"

"As you wish!"

Robin and Cyborg fought their way through the hallways and up the stairs. "Where's BB and Rae?" asked Cyborg. His question was answered as soon as they stepped out onto the roof. Three helicopters were spilling out soldiers on the roof from their side. Raven, along with Beastboy in gorilla form, were sweeping through their ranks. One of the rear rotors on the helicopters turned black for a split second. A moment later, an orange flower of flames bloomed in its place, and the heli begun its untimely descent.

The robots were easy enough to destroy, especially because of the energy reserves everyone had built up. Noticing that the team was under emotional stress, Robin had eased up on the training routine just a little bit. This meant that the Titans were well rested and very eager to blow off some steam, which is why everyone used as much excessive force as the north american police force against drug offenders.

More helicopters were approaching from the city front and even a few boats made landfall, more robotic fighters jumping off and climbing the sides of the tower.

The sun swung higher above them, pushing for the center of the sky to make it in time for noon. The Titans' shadows grew short, pooling under their feet on the searing hot asphalt covering the roof. The summer heat would have made the air thick and unbreathable, if it weren't for the helicopters stirring the air around them violently.

Cyborg brought a helicopter down on top of the roof entrance, blocking the stream of robots that were exiting the door. It turned out to be a bad move, however, as its burning fuel started pooling around it. Like caged beasts, the flames danced above the growing puddle, struggling to break away from the fuel and getting a taste of the team.

By now the Titans were getting exhausted. Exercising in the middle of the day while the sun is out is against most of the fliers at all of the hospitals. Severe sunburns were the least of their worries, however, as their home was being overrun by a seemingly endless army of battle robots.

Cyborg was busy punching holes through them. Blue sparks flew as he tore through them like wet rags. Beastboy's mighty gorilla fists were like a giant can crusher, pancaking the black-clad minions with powerful slams. Starfire was spitting out waves of her green bolts, only stopping her onslaught to launch one or two enemies straight to the stratosphere with a heroic punch.

Robin then noticed something oddly peculiar about the way the Robot Commandos fought. Instead of their usual tight formations, based on on overwhelming the target with sheer numbers, the foes were evenly spaced out. This meant that big, sweeping attacks, like Raven throwing debris or Starfire's bolt sweeps, were ineffective. On the other hand, he, Cyborg and Beastboy had to move from one robot to another and take them on individually.

Constantly switching their focus and moving from one target to another was tiring, since one couldn't stand in place and concentrate on hitting their weak points (or smashing them to smithereens).

Before he could relay the info to his team, however, two things happened. One of the bots' heads suddenly popped open like a kinder surprise, spilling out a shower of tiny needles all over Beastboy. With an awful case of cactus butt, the boy shifted back to his original form and cringed in pain. Then, smoke bombs fell onto the roof, instantly erecting a thick cloud of purple smoke.

It didn't take long to disperse with the powerful rotors blowing the air away. Robin had an awful feeling about the situation.

"Beastboy! What happened?"

Beastboy was still in human form, slowly getting surrounded by an army of robots.

"I can't…" the shapeshifter struggled to answer. His face of pain had turned to confusion.

Robin impatiently cleared away some of the aggressors. Then he noticed a very similar look on Raven's face.

"I can't use my powers!" Beastboy finally found his voice.

"Raven?" Robin inquired, after giving Beastboy a quick nod saying he'd understood.

"Me neither. I think it was the smoke."

Cyborg was way ahead of them. "The smoke contained selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors."

Everyone but Robin gave him a puzzled look. "It's the stuff they put in anti-depressants. Y'know how Raven controls her powers with emotions? It mingles with it."

"How long until they're back?" asked Robin, beating Raven to it.

"No idea. Could be up to 24 hours." Cyborg said, with a look of concern shadowing his face. Only now did the team notice a severe lack of whack-a-mole material. The Robot Commandos were practically gone.

Standing in the middle of the roof, a good ten meters from the team, was Slade. The copper side of his mask was shining in the midday sun. "Not to worry, Titans. You won't need your powers for long."

"Starfire!" yelled Robin, immediately diving into the fight. The alien princess was more or less their last hope against him. The Boy Wonder reached Slade, but was made quick work of, as the villain moved with unmatched speed and precision, dismantling the boy's attack. Robin landed flat on his backside a good six meters away.

Starfire took the opportunity and dove straight for Slade. She let out a frustrated groan as she threw a powerful punch. The pavement behind Slade was suddenly woven with cracks as a wave of air nearly blew Robin off the roof. Slade blocked the punch with one hand.

Starfire was visibly shocked. Literally, too, as high voltage zapped through her body, bringing her to her knees.

"Artificial muscles." muttered Cyborg, not believing his eyes. The punch should have been a morbid equivalent to a home run for the Titans' nemesis. Starfire collapsed and lay on her side. Robin looked at her, searching for signs of breathing. The alien princess was knocked out cold, but a slight grimace of her face reassured Robin that she was indeed still alive.

Despite the massive dose of antidepressants, the Boy Wonder became enraged, charging Slade at full speed, bow staff drawn. This time he managed to dodge Slade's immediate response and even land a few hits. Cyborg and Raven joined him, trying to apprehend him in hand-to-hand combat. But it was no use. Three worn out Titans were no match for an augmented Slade.

The three were tossed aside without considerable effort from the villain.

"Now Robin, shall we dance?"

 _And that's how you get a girl according to Slade. What did you expect? Flowers and chocolate? This isn't the fifties, get your act together._

A/N:

A bit of an apology for taking so long to get this chapter out. There wasn't much time to breathe for the past two weeks, and so I couldn't really get down and post

But enough excuses. What about that, eh? Surprise attack from none other than our favorite gingerbread man. Robin's excited, you can tell!

Anyway, thanks to my faithful readers, loads of respect and appreciation to you. Have a wonderful day and see ya soon!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: It's not like I like doing these or anything, idiot.

 _Previously:_

 _The Titans' tower is under siege and our heroes are… Not doing awfully well._

Slade stood towering among the shambled Titans. Beastboy was trying desperately to pluck the needles from his body. A look of dread was plastered on his face. His body with its fast digestive system had already dispersed the effects of the chemical gas, but not the needles. He was panicking. They were in trouble. It didn't even occur to him that he was in front of the others, all he knew was that they needed saving, and fast.

Raven, Cyborg and Robin were still under the heavy effects of the gas. It was somewhat beneficial to them, as they could think straight without their anger and fear getting in the way. The big disadvantage was, of course, Raven's powers were on vacation.

Fighting Slade in close combat was a bad idea, but Robin was already formulating a plan. A single look was shot at Raven, who caught his eye and understood immediately. The empath charged at the villain. Beastboy's head shot up, looking at her. "Raven!" he shouted desperately, not knowing Robin's plan.

Her left fist flew for a feint, aimed at Slade's head. Slade's hand instinctively moved to deflect. Raven took the opening and punched him in the stomach. Her hand never reached it's goal, however, as Slade's fist dug into her abdomen first, knocking the wind out of her.

Slade grabbed Raven by her cloak, lifting her above himself with ease. "Pathetic." he muttered, looking at her. That was before he was sent tumbling to the side like a rag doll by a blue blast of light. He recovered mid air during one of the bounces and landed on his feet, clutching his side. His posture indicated pain.

"Booyah." Cyborg stood victoriously, smoke rising from his sonic cannon. Before Slade could laugh at their pathetic attempts, he was jumped by Beastboy from the side. The shapeshifter's gloved hand reached for the hydraulic tube protruding from his foe's armor. It looked important.

The tube was torn in half and the effects were fantastic. The entire right side of Slade's body curled up like a carnivorous plant. Black oil was pumped out of the artificial muscles, causing them to flex. For all intents and purposes, Slade was disabled.

Everyone started exchanging glances. First, Robin looked at Cyborg. Then he looked at Raven. Meanwhile, Cyborg looked at Beastboy. Then Raven and Beastboy looked at each other. Their previously stern, hopeless and fearful faces were breaking into smiles. Cyborg was the first to break into a chuckle. It wasn't long before everyone, bar the unconscious Starfire and Slade, was laughing out loud.

It was only then that their triumph was cut short. In a display that would give any professional bodybuilder eternal nightmares, the black muscles burst. Slade stood again in all his glory, mask gleaming in the sun. The Titan's smiles turned to horror.

Beastboy wasn't given any time at all. Slade's kick hit his abdomen, causing him to soar through the air. He landed, slid for a meter or so, then scrambled to stay on the roof. He disappeared over the edge, four gloved fingers barely holding on. His powers were not working, so now he was just a boy, dangling off of a roof of a tall building.

The heat of the asphalt kicked in, biting at his fingertips. The bright sunlight was sitting on his shoulders, pouring down his body, around each and every shadow on his face and in his torn uniform. Beastboy's pain was exponentially growing, along with his fear.

A little voice started chirping up in his mind. "Let go." it said. Beastboy wasn't overly eager to become a disney princess, and even less so a pancake. This was one one-way flight he was not boarding. He reached for the top of the tower with his free hand, hoping to get a grip.

Instead, it slipped and made him swing from side to side dangerously. His fingers hurt as if there was an elephant standing on them. He could only wish, however, as at least that way he'd be pinned to the top. Then again, what business would an elephant have, standing on top of the Titans tower?

Beastboy knew this was his last chance. He braced himself and exhaled. His body jolted, as the desperate hand shot upwards for a grip. A frustrated grunt escaped his lips. His fingers were about ready to dig into the asphalt.

He had done it. Two hands! Beastboy rewarded himself with a tiny victory smirk. Now all he needed to do was use his legs to climb up and over the edge.

Raven watched the fingers intently, focusing all of her attention on them. She was sitting on the floor, clutching her stomach in pain. Between her and the struggling hand was Slade, a towering figure that seemed like a thick wall separating them.

Then, a grunt came from the disembodied fingers, and another white-gloved bunch joined. Raven felt a small wave of relief wash over her. Now all he had to was lean the fronts of his feet onto the glass wall and climb back up.

With much effort and noise Beastboy managed to crawl up on top of the roof. Raven felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Cyborg and Robin's sighs of relief showed that they felt the same way. Slade looked amused and intrigued. He slowly walked over to the struggling boy and with one swift kick, knocked him over the edge.

All they could hear was a short yelp of pain as Beastboy flew off the roof and into the pitfall below.

Raven didn't think. She immediatly ran, falling just short of the ledge, looking down to try and catch sight of him. Her eyes looked left and right, scanning the tiny beach below the tower. The sea came awfully close to the base of the building at the place she lay. Horror shot through her, nausea joining in moments later.. Tears streaked down Raven's blank, gawking face.

"Oh, Raven." Slade started in mock pity. "I'm sorry. But there's no use crying over spilt milk. I guess tonight, instead of you, he'll be sleeping with the fishes."

Raven's eyes closed. Her brows furrowed and she bared her teeth. Her mind was dark.

"Silly girl." Slade added.

She felt something coming from behind the darkness of her closed eyes. A deep,dark, red pattern, barely discernable from the darkness flashed through her head, and her body, like a giant bell toiling after being struck, seemed to resonate with it.

With every flash, red shapes appeared in her mind's vision, her body shaking every time they came up.

Raven was slowly being filled with pure, refined hatred. Every single emotion was being distilled and replaced by reckless hate. She could feel her branching veins, pulsing through her body like a stiff tree. Her body seemed to shackle her existence, drawing a boundary between her mind and the outside world.

She felt caged inside of herself, powerless and helpless. Every inch of her being seemed loosely strapped onto her now hardened cardiovascular system. It felt as if her very tissue was being filled with rage. Like a tree hides its background by leaking leaves between its branches, filling up its canopy, clouds of undiluted anger seeped through her.

No one had ever seen her that angry. Robin and Cyborg stopped fearing Slade and were instead looking at Raven, both terrified.

In a blink of an eye, Raven was standing up straight, right behind Slade. She was mighty unhappy with the masked man, that much was visible even from satellite imaging. The empath slowly rose in the air, her hood covering her face, save for four, glowing red eyes and bared teeth. "Death" was the word the red shapes spelled out in her mind.

A dark tendril shot from underneath her cloak and grabbed Slade by the ankle and swung him over her head like he was a rag doll. His body slammed into the asphalt with bone-breaking force, then bounced up a good hundred and fifty centimeters back up in the air. There, another unsettling extremity made of darkness awaited..

Slade broke the sound barrier, or at least it looked like it. A whip-like hit shot him across the roof towards the edge. Before he could fall to his doom, however, a black tentacle changed his trajectory vertically upwards. While Slade had been flying across the roof, Raven had teleported in his way.

Slade's helpless body flew upwards for six or so meters, where it yet again had an appointment with Raven. Like a pole-vaulter reaching apex, his body had arched backwards. The tendril came down on his midsection, propelling him towards the ground of the roof.

Slade's landing created an impact crater about three meters in diameter. Raven slowly landed in front of the motionless villain.

More tentacles sprouted from underneath her cloak, picking up his lifeless body, lifting it much like the way Slade had lifted her earlier.

Her hand emerged from her cloak as she started charging up a punch with her powers, deciding whether to send Slade on a journey to the center of the Earth, or fly him to the moon. Raven was about set on sending him stargazing and prepared to accelerate the masked man to escape velocity.

That's when a pair of arms wrapped around her in a tight, caring embrace. "Raven, stop." said a very familiar voice. Raven was sure she was hallucinating. "It's okay. You don't have to be angry. I'm okay." Beastboy's voice was like cold aloe-vera on sunburnt skin. She shivered, chills running through her body as he held her back.

Raven dropped Slade on the floor. Cyborg immediately walked over to check his vitals and cuff him, while Robin dashed to Starfire's side.

"But how?" said Raven, still under shock.

"My powers came back. I was so afraid I'd die and then... I guess my body just did what it had to do to survive."

Raven was having none of his cheap excuses. "Which movie are you quoting there?"

"High School musical 2?" he retorted, jokingly.

"You wanna go for another dive?" Raven nodded her head at the edge of the roof. Her voice told a very different story, however. She finally turned around and returned his embrace, a few tears finally spilling from her eyes.

She couldn't help it. Raven wasn't the one to cry, not because she would choke it back, but because she never felt the urge. Now, for the first time in a long while, she felt like crying and while she did try to fight it, she failed miserably. No words were needed, just a little time.

"Meet you down in the common room." said Robin to Beastboy, as he and Cyborg carried the two unconscious people off the roof. Beastboy simply nodded at the team leader and returned his attention back to the crying girl.

For the first time since the whole chain of events began, Raven needed him more than he needed her. And he was more than glad to be there. As Beastboy held his teammate, his friend, a person who was important to him, he felt accepted. He felt like he had a purpose, like he deserved to live. To be needed by someone he regarded as highly as Raven was incredible to him.

She seemed so vulnerable in this state. Beastboy couldn't remember when he had last seen her cry like that. Most of the time, she seemed either calm and nonchalant or angry. Lately, however, he'd been noticing more and more of a gentle, kind aspect to her personality. It made him happy to know that she was willing to share that side of her with him.

It was intimate. In the same way they were now wrapped in a tight hug, it was personal, and close. Beastboy could feel Raven's body, and it felt small and frail. She was a powerful being and a strong person. But holding her small frame in his arms, it was hard to imagine that. It felt so good to hold her, too. Small avalanches of happiness erupted from the back of his neck, gently covering his entire body. Then, as the feeling spilled from him and into the girl engulfed in his embrace, it ebbed back, like a soft ocean wave waltzing up and down the lagoon beach.

He couldn't help but smile at the sensation. Beastboy decided that he'd definitely have to hug Raven more often.

Raven's feelings were far simpler. She couldn't analyze her reactions, compare them, or think about them. She had to make sure he was real. That this was his body, breathing and moving. Alive and well.

Then there was only relief, deeper than a well, pouring from within her like lava from an erupting volcano. Each time her senses registered the boy she was holding, something comfortably melted inside of her, making her buzz with joy and thankfulness. The sharp, jagged thoughts of Beastboy being gone were washed over and covered with his presence.

A comfortable silence was surrounding the duo, giving Beastboy more time to think. He had to make everything up to Raven, not just for her sake, but himself as well. He wished to reward her, show her his appreciation of what she'd done for him. And he was now completely determined that he had to make it awesome.

He couldn't help himself but press his lips on the top of her head. He would show her how important she was to him.

"Let's go see the others, Raven."

Raven looked up at him, tears still streaking down her face. "A- are you sure?" her somewhat raspy voice asked. Beastboy offered a big grin. "Yep. Let's go."

The duo slowly turned to walk towards the roof exit. Raven still felt the place on her head Beastboy had pecked. It was tingling, sending warm beams down her face. Dust stuck to the sweat on her cheeks. Then, her heart jumped, her face turned deep red. Beastboy grabbed her hand.

 _Triumph at last!_


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: The jokes in this chapter were fished out of the toilet, I'm so sorry.

 _Previously:_

 _Everyone's favorite couple was done being stuck on the roof and decided to descend from their personal heaven while holding hands. Absolutely adorable._

Beastboy found it very difficult to hold Raven's hand. Neither of them was used to doing it. At first they just yanked and tugged at each other's hand, trying to get in rhythm with one another. Beastboy felt like his hand was detached from his body, and was instead merged with the girl he was holding.

Where their palms wrapped around each other, a sacred place seemed to form. Quite a literal place where his and Raven's consciousness became one. The rest of his body, including his head which held his mental perspective, it was like gazing at the stage of an amphitheater.

A weird concept brewed up in his mind concerning the perspectives that people could take. Two different persons could not see something from the same perspective. The first, and most obvious obstacle was that people are matter, and not ethereal. Walking into someone would, at best, demand an awkward apology and at worst… Beastboy shuddered at the memory of the tape of him and Raven.

The next big issue occurs when one tries to solve the first one. You can be in the same place as another person, but not while they're there. You can stand at the exact same spot as soon as they move away. The problem is that in the mean-time, the scenery changes, even if only for a minuscule amount.

However, even if you find a picture still enough. A picture that two people can enjoy under extremely similar circumstances, their view of it can differ greatly. Filtered through their view of the world, their current feelings and their state of mind, the image becomes distorted in a different way for everyone.

Arguably the closest one could come to touching another person's mind is by touching them. Both of their attentions are focused on the contact area. The mind feels the pressure of the other's touch in much the same way in one person as it does in the other. And with the same intent - to offer comfort in closeness - the metaphorical souls touch as well.

To Beastboy, who was having but a slight sense for that philosophy, and only just received that rush one gets when one's mind is blown, it was just a simple thought of touching Raven's consciousness with his own. It felt deeply intimate, exciting and he felt embarrassed and exposed, but not to the point of discomfort.

It felt good, actually. Every time he became conscious of their contact, excitement shot down his body, winding into springs in the bones of his heels. He had to control himself not to start skipping.

The sounds of their boots, hitting the hallway floors, as well as their breathing echoing off the walls filled the silence. It was a wonderfully awkward walk through a botanical garden of blooming robot soldiers. The two made their way through the modern art exhibition, as a sore question started looming over their heads.

Neither one of them really wanted to let go of the other's hand, but Robin and Cyborg were bound to misunderstand. Or understand in a way even they did not. Beastboy and Raven would have much rather kept this as a moment of their own. A place in time where no person could intrude with their dirty feet stomping ugly words and labels all over it.

It was a sacred sanctuary in time, much like a deep temple for them to explore. Each corner held promise of adventure and secrecy, a sense of excitement and thrill. They had an entire playground of unexplored aspects to what was between them. The areas they lit up and discovered would strengthen their relationship, while the charm of the unknown would keep them pressing onwards.

They wanted to test their limits and boundaries, find out more about the other and their reactions to things. Intricately interested and fascinated by each other, as well as their own reactions to the other person.

But there was no way they could do it. If it became a mundane, ordinary, every-day thing where everyone would plow down their excitement, writing it off as something as overused and chewed out as romance or love, it would lose most, if not all of its charm.

Their ventures into each other's world were not daily routine. They were dangerous and exciting journeys. Raven compared Beastboy to a book that she loves reading. Nothing could describe her feelings for the book, because they weren't linear and unchanging. It was a special mood into which she slipped whenever she interacted with him. In that state her mind was curious and eager to know more. She would listen to him, not because etiquette or a relationship dictated it so, but because she desired it.

And so, quite some relief was mixed into the regret Beastboy felt for letting go of her hand before they rounded the last corner. While the contact was intoxicating and addictive to him, he had to stop in order to let it retain those qualities. Beastboy and Raven made their way into the common room.

Robin was cuddled up with Starfire on the couch, watching a movie. Cyborg was sitting at the table, eating another bacon sandwich in desperation.

After Robin and Cyborg left the emotional duet on the roof, the Boy Wonder carried Starfire to the infirmary while Cyborg dragged Slade down to the island dock. The police were already there with the special containment unit ready to take Slade into custody, courtesy of Robin's phone call.

The metal Titan was asked to fill out some forms before returning to the medical wing to give Starfire a checkup. When the door opened, the alien princess was already subduing their team leader in a gentle death-grip.

Upon seeing that, Cyborg decided that a big bacon-barbecue-sauce sandwich was in order, to deal with his rising emotions. "Why should they be happy?" he thought with a pout on his face as he bit into his creation. He was doomed to become a permanent fifth wheel as all of his teammates pair up into happy couples. Cyborg chewed with a frown.

They might be all drama, denial and friendship on any average day, but as soon as the going got tough, things became as clear as day. It was somewhat amusing.

Cyborg remembered that, at first, when their team was formed, they would all split off into their own rooms after a tough fight. Nobody really wanted to talk, they would all lick their wounds and recuperate in solitude.

Then, after they gradually became more and more like a family, they stuck together when something went wrong. Often they would recover over some pizza or a movie. The huge black couch was a godsend on days like those, and everyone gradually cheered up, often after a small argument popped up between Beastboy and Cyborg, or Beastboy and Raven, or Beastboy and Robin. It was a nice, somewhat ritualistic practice they took up over time and it really helped the team bond, even in the toughest of times.

Everything changed when Robin and Starfire went on a walk after a very bad fight with Plasmus one day. Raven was, in turn, forced to hole up in her room, while Beastboy and Cyborg settled on playing games. It wasn't too bad, and the three of them understood. Starfire and Robin were getting gradually closer, it would take a blind man (or a bird man, as Cyborg often jabbed at Robin's obliviousness) not to notice.

It was a calculated risk. However, no one really expected Raven and Beastboy to become so connected. It seemed to Cyborg that in mere days the two went from sending each other eviction notices to love letters. Now that the two were joined at the hip, Cyborg felt like he'd eventually end up walking the lonely road, the only one that he has ever known, despite not knowing where it goes. He'd be the only one and he'd walk alone. A- ah. A- ah. A… Ah.

He wasn't about to put the Linkin Park albums back on his mp3 player just because everyone around him was sporting goo-goo eyes. That was exactly what he had tried to achieve with his mischief. Cyborg realized that trying to stop his teammates from getting together was akin to Napolen's goal of conquering Moscow; an awful lot of pain and casualties for nothing.

The half-metal Titan had to reassess his options - either he was to wallow in envy or take matters into his own hands. He flipped open his communicator, considering his further action. Cyborg flicked the phonebook up and down, bouncing between the names Bumblebee and Jinx. He was about to pick at random when Raven and Beastboy walked into the common room.

"Hiya…" Beastboy greeted, trying to punch through the serious atmosphere with a lighter voice. "Hey man." said Cyborg, barely sending him a glance before turning back to the communicator. Robin turned around in his seat, looking at the green boy intently. "Hello, Beastboy."

"Eheh, what's up?" the changeling nervously continued, scratching his neck. Raven stepped up beside him, boosting his confidence significantly.

"Not much." Robin answered somewhat plainly.

"But it's good to have you back." He then added, a slight smirk stretching his lips. Beastboy's worried face turned into a full toothy grin.

"Ya missed me?"

"With every shot so far." Robin was obviously in a good mood. "Come on, let's talk." the leader gestured towards the door and the two boys took off. They finally sat down in Robin's room.

"Robin, look, I'm really sorry for…" Robin stopped Beastboy with a glance.

"Beastboy, know that I understand the way you felt. It must have been very hard for you and I assure you, it was no easier for us. But please, listen to what I have to say first."

The shapeshifter took the hint and piped down.

"It wasn't just Raven that was worried. Everyone was concerned and upset at the way you were acting. But that is not the point. The point is what you can learn from this. What we can learn from this." Robin took a deep breath.

"You are a very valuable asset - an important part of our team, so to say. Like everyone else's, yes, even mine, your personality is key to what makes us the Teen Titans. It's important that you are aware of that."

Beastboy felt both honored and offended at the same time. "Look. We need you to be yourself with the team. To that end, I'd really like to ask you to please refrain from repeating your episode. Should something go wrong, speak to someone about it. Remember how everyone felt when Raven started randomly baking pancakes for everybody?" Beastboy hung his head in shame. Seeing him understand, Robin continued.

"On the other hand, we had our fair share of foul-ups. I noticed before that you were tailing that girl, but chose to do nothing. None of us ever noticed anything out of the ordinary before it was too late. On that part, I apologize on behalf of the others."

"It's okay, Rob. I'm… Thanks…" Said Beastboy, tears welling up in his eyes. He was so happy that he had such good friends, a family that he could trust and rely on. And he was so angry at himself for misplacing that trust and letting circumstances get in the way.

"Now, no more of that Robin's-gonna-kick-me-off-the-team business, okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll have to apologize to that girl, you do realize that, right?"

"Yup."

The two boys became men in the emotional flurry of the situation. A brotherly bond neither of them knew existed strengthened between them. They both understood, and it brought them a feeling of power and satisfaction.

After the short moment of shedding manly-tears, Robin broke the silence once more.

"You have to make it up to Raven. She'd go through hell and back for you. Heck, she might have already done so."

"Oh I will. On that note, I've been thinking about it, but couldn't really come up with anything cool. Any good ideas on where to take her?"

Robin grinned like a dark wizard asked about forbidden knowledge. The countless dates and scenarios he had planned for Starfire were a gold mine of perfect romantic spots and locations he had gathered by different means. If anyone knew a good place to go, it was lovemaster Robin. The latter then started a more lively and intense explanation about all of the possibilities that Beastboy had, while the changeling sat in perfect awe, soaking up the information like a sponge.

It was already evening when the two bid farewell at Robin's door, for no more than a measly five seconds. That was the time it took for Robin's stomach to remind him of hunger, which caused him to catch up to Beastboy on his way to the common room.

"Who's up for pizza?" the team leader announced as they entered the common room, only to find it devoid of life. "Huh? Where is everybody?"

Robin took out his communicator and dialled Starfire. The alien princess answered gleefully, and Robin immediately recognized the background. It was the dreaded "Mall of Shopping". "Hello, friends Robin and Beastboy!" she hollered. "I am sorry for not informing you, but friend Raven and I decided to go to the mall of shopping!" Beastboy empathized the purple-haired empath.

"Okay. Do you by any chance know where Cyborg is?"

"Hmm, I do not believe friend Cyborg told us where he was setting out to…" said the redhead, suddenly puzzled and intrigued.

"It's okay, I'll call and ask him. Oh, could you guys get some pizza on the way back? Me and Beastboy are kinda starving here…"

A quick "Glorious!" followed by half-tamaranian gibberish ended the call. Robin then decided to call Cyborg.

"Hey man, where are you?"

"Yo, Rob! Guess who's on a date?"

"Napoleon Dynamite?"

"2004 called, they want the joke back."

"Oh shut up. So, who's the lucky girl?"

 _Who IS the lucky girl?!_

A/N:

This chapter tried to capture more of the inside shenanigans going on inside of everyone's favorite couple. And then it wanted to do another thing.

Not make the reunion a big deal. You see, Beastboy was mentally prepared for meeting the others, all he needed was an opportunity. It presented itself perfectly in the form of the Slade attack, which, apart from the awful clean up job and a couple of bruises, was more or less beneficial to the team. It would be irony, if it weren't for the fact that I feel like this is that villain's running theme.

Whatever Slade does only seems to make the Titans stronger and better prepared for threats. It's interesting how he usually outsmarts them and prepares well, only to make them use their teamwork and individual powers to their fullest potential. The fight scene was, in my opinion, pretty important in the way it played out.

As I've said, Beastboy coming back so smoothly is not to be unexpected. If Robin wanted to handle the situation well, he'd try to blow it over as fast as possible. A good leader would understand that Beastboy didn't need lecturing or punishment, but acceptance and somewhere to fit in.

Lastly, I'm kinda split on a bit of a trivial matter. Who would you like to see dating Cyborg? An answer in the reviews would really help, as well as any mistakes you could warn me about (thank you).

Besides that, have a wonderful day, and sit tight because we're slowly getting to that sweet, sweet end!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I wonder how much of the word count is stuck in disclaimers…

 _Previously:_

 _Beastboy and Robin were surprised to catch Cyborg on a date._

"You're looking at her! How rude." said Cyborg, looking displeased with Robin's lack of sensitivity. "Real nice of you, glorious leader."

Robin was very confused. Beastboy started comically sobbing. "He's gone, Robin. He's lost it."

"You guys just don't understand." Cyborg turned to the empty passenger seat. "Don't worry, baby, they don' mean it. They're just a bunch of meanies. Don't let 'em get to ya."

"Well, could you explain?" Robin stopped Cyborg's short rambling, still trying to assess the situation and figure out what is going on.

"Okay. So I called up Bee, you know, from Titan's east?" The half-robot elaborated.

"Yeah?" Robin inquired. Cyborg began explaining.

Cyborg looked at his reflection in the communicator as it dialed Bumblebee. "Sparky?" she said as she answered the call. Her face was holding up a smile, but Cyborg could see it wasn't easy. He decided to go through with it anyway, and mustered his courage.

"Hey, Bee. I was thinkin', how 'bout I make a quick trip to Steel, and take you for a lil' ride? And then we grab a cup of coffee or somethin'?"

He was trying his best to sound as nonchalant as possible. He wasn't awfully successful.

"Sorry, Sparks, the team's a bit of a handful. Gotta say I'm..."Something crashed in the background, causing her to stop mid-sentence. She turned her head and yelled something imperceptible, before looking back at the screen and finishing what she was going to say.

"...gonna have to refuse. I have to go now, bye!" The call was hung up.

Cyborg stared grimly at the dark screen. It was one of those moments that could use a sad, low-voice narration over some jazz music. And he just drove.

"And then I realized - everything I ever needed was right there in front of me. The one true love made for me by my own two hands." Said Cyborg, as if quoting a sappy movie. His eyes glinted, as if a broader understanding of the universe had been bestowed upon him.

"Please don't tell me you're dating the car."

"I'm datin' the car."

A long silence ensued. Robin's forehead and palm felt a magnetic attraction between them. He resisted the urge. Finally, the quiet was broken.

"Go on ahead, say it." Cyborg challenged Robin. "I know what you're thinking. Go ahead and tell me!"

"You are not dating the car." The words were pitched somewhere between disbelief and an order.

"Oh I am!" Cyborg said in contradiction.

"DUDE! What is wrong with you?" intervened Beastboy, genuine concern mixed with outrage filled his voice.

"Look, you two. A man can make his own choices. True genius is just... Over the heads for you guys. Face it."

Robin turned to Beastboy. "Did you download any games onto his computer again?"

"No, not at all." answered the green boy honestly.

"What happened, then?" Robin said, wondering.

"I've no idea..." he paused, then continued in a worried tone that a small child would use upon seeing something they don't quite understand. "Cyborg's gone fruitcake again, hasn't he?"

Cyborg felt awfully ignored. "Hello! Still here, y'know!" he tried, but Robin and Beastboy were too distracted for him to listen. Cyborg sighed defeatedly, then announced: "I'm off to get a burger. I hope y'all choke on each other's spit. See ya later."

When the girls returned it was already late afternoon. The sun stood on the horizon like a man walking into cold water stops when it reaches up to about half of his thighs. Cyborg joined them just as the pizzas opened. Everybody except Beastboy attributed that to pure coincidence, but the changeling was convinced that Cyborg had sensed the pizzas entering the tower and, in turn, immediately made his appearance.

After dinner and quick showers, they regrouped at the couch and watched a movie. Cyborg grumpily parked himself in the center of the couch and laid out little name tags on the seats. Instead of annoyance and remarks about his childish behaviour, he was met with a high degree of understanding from his teammates.

With the girls to his left and the guys to his right, Cyborg sat in the center and ceremoniously pressed the play button on the remote. Soon after, the sounds of laughter and crunching popcorn filled the common room. It was a nice celebration for their victory, and a good way to rest.

The movie ended and Robin and Starfire volunteered for clean-up. Beastboy and Raven left immediately, while Cyborg switched to the evening news.

"Hey Rob, look!" he said, seeing a quick report that Slade had been incarcerated. "I wonder if he ever gets tired breaking out..." said the ironclad hero. "I don't wonder." answered Robin, for which he received a puzzled glance. He leaned over to Cyborg and whispered in his ear: "What do you think Starfire has in common with a prison?"

"You lead a diary of what you've stuck in it?"

The remark was rewarded with a smack on the head. "Ow, you bastard. What do they have in common, then?"

"The cooking!" Robin snickered. Cyborg couldn't help but chuckle at his joke.

Robin had many aspects that irked the robotic Titan to no end. He had to admit, though, between being trained by the Batman and the abysmal punchlines he shouted during battle, their leader somehow managed. He still had a light-hearted and pleasant side to show. He couldn't hold a candle to Beastboy, but nonetheless, Cyborg felt like he might have been wrong about where Robin stored his Bo-staff.

"Oh, please, friends, do tell me what is the funny joke!"

Robin's eyes shot wide with terror. Cyborg's face broke out into a cheshire grin. He started with a voice worthy of a Bond villain. "Oh Robin, go on. Tell her! What's the similarity between Starfire and a prison?"

"Both... Are... Uhm..." Robin was sweating bullets. He improvised "They're both filled with... Memories of me?" he cringed at his own attempt. Everything became quiet for a few seconds. To Robin, those few moments lasted hours. Just when he had already made peace with a closed-casket funeral for himself, the alien princess burst out in laughter.

"Hahah, Friend Robin!" Starfire mustered between fits. "I think that they do not have memories as fond as mine, however." she said, still shaking. Robin blushed at the subtle compliment.

"Please, friend, do you know any more such comical comparisons? For example, what then, are the disparities between me and a detention facility?" Starfire urged.

Cyborg was dying of amusement. "Well, Robbie-pooh, tell us!" He instigated. Starfire pretended not to notice the, in her opinion, unjust and distasteful nickname.

"Well, I uh... Wouldn't mind... If you locked me up? I guess?"

Suddenly, everything was as quiet as a mortuary. Cyborg's cheeks were waterfalls as he stifled laughter. His nostrils flared and he shook periodically.

"But Friend Robin, I do not understand! Why would you wish to be locked up specifically by me? Are you perhaps feeling unsafe?"

Robin hoped that the carpet below him would swallow him on spot. In a show of unparalleled self-control, Cyborg spoke. "Maybe... You ought to try and see… Why he'd wanna... You know how Rob gets, explaining... His preferences. 'Night." and with that, he tip-toed his way out of the common room, leaving the team leader to his fate at the mercy of a curious Starfire.

Just as he was about to take the turn towards his room, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Raven was sitting in front of Beastboy's room, talking to him through the hatch. "D'aww!" Cyborg whispered under his breath at the downright adorable sight. He took the turn and went to his room, hooking himself up to charge with a smile.

"Thanks for, you know… Stopping me today." Raven thanked Beastboy. She was focusing hard to try and prevent color from flooding her cheeks. Her gaze dropped and she looked like she might start to gnaw on her lip at any point. Raven's arms hung by her sides, but rather than relaxed, they looked like they were on the verge of snapping together and fumbling her fingers.

She did her best to hide her nervousness, but Beastboy could quite literally smell it. "It was nothing, really. Don't mention it, Raven." the boy answered, also tense.

"You can, uh… Well sometimes it'd sound better and…" Raven started, but realized what she was saying mid-sentence. It was too late at that point, however, and she had to tell him. "You can call me Rae, sometimes… When you want to. I mean, if you want to." Raven was so far out of her comfort zone she couldn't even see the line.

Beastboy was stunned, but also aware that continuing the conversation was imperative. And so, wearing the face of a disinterested comatose with scarlet shining through his green skin, Beastboy played it cool. "You wanna talk about it?"

They stood in silence for a few seconds, before the changeling had an idea. He ducked down and crawled through the hatch in his door. He then opened it all the way and locked the piece of metal in place, before he sat down, now in his room, looking up at Raven with a giant grin.

She almost laughed in response, sitting down without question. "So, uh…" Beastboy cleared his throat. "You were saying the other day that you get angry easily. Was it the same today?"

The atmosphere became completely different in an instant. Once again, they were in the comfortable zone in which they've been finding themselves more and more lately.

 _And on to more talking!_

A/N:

Well, guess who won Cyborg's heart?!

Many of you have pointed out that Jinx and Bee are a little "too" standard. The suggestion of T-Car was… I loved it immediately and decided to go with that. So thanks loads, you guys!

See you soon.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: We need to start asking the important questions, like who puts the D in McDonald's.

 _Previously:_

 _Cyborg caught a glimpse of everyone's favorite couple having their little hatch-chat._

"I'm just askin' 'cause, you know, you've talked about it a little just the other day..." Beastboy was obvious in trying to seem casual. He failed to do so, but Raven still appreciated the thought. She specifically thought that the somewhat awkward, tense and uncomfortable air around them had no place in their comfortable conversations.

It was a problem that needed addressing. Raven decided that sooner was better than later. "Yes. But before I talk to you about that, I'd just like to acknowledge the... Awkwardness around here." Beastboy looked down and blushed, misunderstanding it as a pointed finger at his actions. The empath was quick to allay his fears. "We're both to blame. I just thought there was no shame in admitting it and putting it out there."

This caused Beastboy to perk up and lock eyes with her in agreement. "I know what you mean, and I don't like it either. It's like we have something to hide from each other. Geez, I'm sorry... Rae, I'd really love to be just as we were."

Raven felt a sharp jab of guilt, remembering her little experiment. However, she saw the opportunity to dissipate the tensity and took it. "Y... yeah. Let's do that."

The two let out audible sighs of relief. Though some residual discomfort still lingered, they were already notably better.

"So do you wanna talk about it now?" Beastboy asked, eager to change the subject. Raven thought it best to give him the full version, save for her self-test. Putting good faith in Beastboy's ability to not misunderstand, Raven began her story.

"A couple of days ago, I went into my mind and tried to pin-point the source of my anger." Beastboy was already immersed, like a child having a bedtime story read to them. Instead of trying to listen critically or objectively, he was just enjoying what Raven had to share with him.

"Knowledge... The yellow one with the glasses," she described her emotion, but it wasn't necessary. The changeling had their names burned into his memory. "She pulled me away from the meeting, telling me one of myselves wanted to talk." she paused. Raven found that, suddenly, she was quite unsure of herself. How could she convey her story accurately and with as little bias as possible? It caused her to think and pick her words carefully. She was baring a part of herself usually kept hidden, and now that she had a chance to share at least a bit of it, she knew she'd have to do it right.

Beastboy, on the other hand, was barely holding back his curiosity. In just three sentences, Raven managed to command his full attention, and the only matter on his mind now was which emotion wanted to talk to Raven.

The girl noticed the impatient question lingering in his eyes and decided to throw caution to the wind for once. Raven answered Beastboy's unspoken inquiry.

"Timid was waiting for us in the library, and... Well, she told us that... Don't take this the wrong way, this happens all the time."

Somehow, she found herself stumbling over her words. Embarrassment crept up on her face, sowing pink flowers, thicketing the way for her words.

"They constantly do it and frankly, it's very obnoxious."

More stuttering and awkward pauses ensued. It took an enormous effort to push through and bring herself to say it.

"Anyway, what Timid said, is that she has a bit of a thing for you."

Judging by her disposition, Beastboy felt obligated to brush it off as ridiculous. He forced a laugh to try and show that attitude. The sound seemed to fall from his lips like a ball of thick smoke, dropping to the ground and creeping in all directions.

For an indiscernible reason, Raven felt a little stab from the empty chuckle. Sure, she, too brushed Timid's convictions off, but she couldn't help but feel a splash of disappointment.

She would never admit it, but she genuinely hated being right in this situation. The reason was a little specific. She didn't find anything wrong with Beastboy dismissing a romantic relationship between them. He was, in fact, not doing the latter at all. What he was dismissing was the possibility that she harboured feelings for him.

Somehow, confirming what she believed to be true didn't make her happy.

This was a red alert to Raven. Rooting for the opposing view to win was a sure sign of denial and inner frustration. As an empath whose powers are controlled by emotions, Raven couldn't afford to have her subconscious causing her trouble.

She didn't for a moment think, however, that she was the cause for Beastboy's attempted laugh. It didn't even occur to her that, in that very moment, the boy was also dealing with an internal battle.

Beastboy found his reaction so revolting, he found himself mentally retreating from his body. He looked at his shell from the outside as it laughed like an idiot, and replayed the moment in his mind. This wasn't what he felt. He found it heart-warming and adorable that Timid had fallen for him. He felt excited and happy to hear that a small part of Raven was head over heels for him.

Then he saw it - the glimpse of hurt in Raven's eye. That was his chance. He could tell her the truth. It wasn't like he had anything to hide anyway.

"Actually, no. I'm sorry for laughing, Raven." the girl, still lost deep in thought, was torn from her state. "What?" she stuttered.

"I mean, don't get me wrong here, but I wanna say that, to me, it's really cool... What you said."

Raven was perplexed and showing it. "I mean, even if just a small part of you likes me... Like that... I find that great, and, and exciting, and..." he trailed off and looked at her amethyst eyes, searching for more words.

"So, uh, how does... That," Beastboy choked out, referring to Timid's feelings for him, "Tie into the whole anger issues - thing."

Raven had much to think about. She would have to mull over Beastboy's words, agonize over their meaning and break her mind in half over them. But that would have to wait.

"Timid took control every time she got -" Raven couldn't find a better word "jealous. So she made me angry and, while I was distracted, took control of my powers. It was still me who sent Cyborg through a portal, it was my own decision, but I was acting on account of that part of me."

"So only a part of you teleported Cyborg to Kansas?"

"Something like that, yes. That does mean it's still me, but my rational decisions were clouded by the impulses of that emotion."

Beastboy took a second to take everything in. He had more questions.

"It was Timid beating up Slade earlier today, then?"

"Not really, no. When a part of me becomes distressed and upset enough, Rage takes over. It's a lot like normal anger - when faced with a difficult challenge, anger is used to overcome it. In simpler terms: the situation caused Rage to surface and remove the obstacle."

Beastboy felt a chill down his spine. The brutal beating that Slade took was something as simple as removing an obstacle in Rage's book.

"That's not the whole story, though." Raven admitted with a heavy heart. "When I saw you fall, and then looked over the ledge, only to find you gone... I was... Scared."

By now, Raven's eyes were wet. She took a minute to pause and let the onslaught of her tears recede. In that moment, when she couldn't see him, not knowing whether or not he was alive, Raven had a feeling. It was awe, pure shock at how relentless and unforgiving life is. Had Beastboy fallen to his death, causality itself would have outstretched its hand. The cataclysmic grip of reality would have shattered the future, a glass vial which holds their life together, into a thousand pieces.

Nothing could be reclaimed from it, not a single memory would be made of the days to be. In that second, Raven felt so helpless and human. The human mind, evolved to predict the future through imagination, had created pictures of the time to come. Then, the harsh boulders of cause and effect crushed them into nothing but dust.

In spite of the fact that it was nothing more than a figment of her imagination, Raven felt entitled to her future, as all of us do. It's why she felt like something was taken away from her when it suddenly shifted. When the memories of things which never happened were unmade.

It had made her furious. Slade's intervention in her life had seemed to rob her of things, even if they were just stuck in her mind. She held the man accountable for taking away things she'd never even had.

"If I couldn't find you and talk to you. If your face and voice were lost, forever... If..." Raven didn't know what would happen. The mere thought of seeing his empty room made her stomach flip.

By the time his arms were wrapped around her, as they stood on the roof, she had lived it all out in her head. A whole lifetime without her precious friend played out in her mind. His hug didn't just stop her fear and anger, it was also a massive relief. In that moment, everything grew back to its rightful place. Raven might have beaten Slade, but Beastboy was the hero of the day in her eyes.

Beastboy thanked her sincerely. After another pause, the two turned to theorizing why Raven's powers returned in the nick of time. The conversation went on for about another hour, before the two bid their good nights.

Beastboy found himself, yet again, sitting in the quadrilateral lit by the hallway lights. The yellow light fought a losing battle with the pitch-black shadows. He was entrenched in thought, unable to dig his way out of his mind.

Everything looked like more than just a mere coincidence. From the way Raven acted, the things she said, and the way he found himself talking back. It was as if he was in a dreamy dance. The things that had happened seemed to line up too well.

"Or does it?" he asked himself. The mind is, it seems, obsessed with making a story for everything. If it notices an effect, a state of things, it immediately starts seeking a reason behind it. It tries to manufacture a story, plausible or not, which explains how things got to where they were.

From Beastboy shutting himself in his room, to the seemingly random act of kindness from Raven, there was nothing he could put a finger on that would just scream ploy or conspiracy. He had thought before that Raven helping him might have been a plan set against him, but nothing of the sort happened. He saw Raven's genuine rage and hurt at the thought of him being gone, he had no reason at all to doubt her.

On the other hand, he also felt as if his rational reasoning, trying to piece together the things he knew and apply them to reality, was like trying to count the stars. Every time he talked to Raven, it was like falling down a rabbit hole. It was magical, as if sitting in a deep forest meadow, surrounded by bark, painted blue by the shadows cast by the green leaves. As if they had managed to create their own pocket of the universe, ruled not by harsh laws, but by some intangible form of energy.

Wave after wave of himself, in a sense, seemed to spread out in all directions. A dense, yet invisible aura. And when it came in contact with Raven's, when the two waves collided, it seemed to tear a hole in reality, bringing them into the tiny world of their own.

Beastboy found his words to lose meaning as he tried to grasp the intricacies of what he was thinking about. Everything was too vague, because words had meanings, and describing these unexplored landscapes of his mind with words was difficult, like painting an image in negative space, or trying to reach the bottom of a pond with too short of a stick.

Exhaustion finally overburdened him, causing his mind to go blank. He got up and dragged himself to his bed, entering a world of bewildered and disjointed dreams for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, Raven also laid in bed, thinking. From her anger, to sheer joy, the moments from when Beastboy seemingly tumbled to his doom, to the second his arms grabbed her, were all branded into her mind. Though the pictures were blurry, the feelings were crystal clear.

Coupled with the changeling's words from their conversation before, Raven's mind was extremely close to constructing a phobia of losing the green Titan. Much like the former, however, tiredness was quick to claw her from her thoughts and into a deep sleep.

Raven had that dream again. She was walking down the hallway towards Beastboy's door. The walls were dark and shadows hung from the ceiling, like jagged teeth of broken glass, urging her on. This time, a snowy silver light crept from the hole in the door. A horrible feeling in her gut started to brew. Raven made her way towards the door. She stood there, looking at the metal plates, desaturated by the darkness. The gray shades shaped the spilled electronics to the side, while planes of black locked together to form the door.

Raven ducked down and crawled through the hatch. The room was ash gray. Cold, metallic surfaces, coated in dust and shadow were like bars on a cage. They held the room together, but in doing so, they suppressed any possibility of living inside it. The only thing disturbing the silvery walls were black dots. Splashes of something dark.

Raven started hyperventilating. Fear, pain and horror welled up inside of her. "Gone." shot through her mind and tears immediately poured down her cheeks. Loneliness and grief overtook her.

Suddenly, she found herself back in the hallway, her misery suddenly gone. The golden light, previously replaced by the silver, was once more spilling from the hatch on his door. This time with more confidence, Raven crawled through it and stood up in his room.

Everything, from the walls to the furniture, to the floor, seemed plated in gold by the warm light that shone from a sphere on the ceiling. Everything was the way Raven had last seen it. The DVD player still on the chair in the center of the room, facing towards the bed. Beastboy was sleeping on the lower bunk, a shadow protecting the color of his face and pillow from the mighty light.

It was warm and pleasant, unlike the hallway outside. Raven felt at ease. Relaxed, content and peaceful. Without giving it a second thought, she walked over to the lower bunk, used her powers to slightly shift the scrawny frame of the boy, and tucked herself into the sheets beside him.

Raven fell into a deep, peaceful slumber. He was by her side, after all.

 _Okay, okay, ready guys?_

A/N:

Hello again! And sorry for the tremendously long break. I don't have excuses.

This one is trying to be serious and thoughtful, so pardon the lack of awful jokes, I promise I'll make more in the future.

A follow up on the Cy/T-Car ship is needed and, maybe to cater to you guys, we might see a tragic breakup. Who knows. Since Cyborg's romantic feelings aren't really the focus of this story (just check the tags, man), I'm open to adjust it somewhat, according to your reaction. But I'll also make sure to not just brush it off. The metal man will get his fair share of attention.

Thanks again, for reading this and for your ongoing support. Have a wonderful day!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Cake or death!

Previously:

 _Raven had some dreams about coming to Beastboy's room._

First there was nothing. And then there was warmth. A seemingly infinite source of kind, mild heat. Like sun gives life to the Earth, this wonderful warmth kept Beastboy nice and comfortable. It was harmony and equilibrium for ages to come.

Or, rather, until the warmth started to recede. Beastboy, however, didn't like that. And like Bruce Willis in Armageddon, he set out to stop it. With the monumental effort of a sleeping man, the offensive movement of the warmth was stopped. The object, pinned down by his right hand, was yet again providing pleasant heat to the changeling.

Unfortunately, the peace didn't last long. The warmth filed another divorce and struggled out of his grip. Realizing the impending threat of cold alimony, the green boy went out on a limb to stop it. Specifically, with his right leg, which he flung over the cozy soft thing.

"Wait..." his mind said, amidst the tiny victory celebrations, "warm and soft?"

Beastboy's mind reclaimed some higher functions from the depths of drowsiness. There was no way that something was warm without:

a) being plugged into the outlet

b) being filled with something warm beforehand

c) being alive

d) grossly violating the first law of thermodynamics

Considering that the nearest electrical plug was across the room and that the door was locked, Beastboy concluded that a miracle was occurring, and something in his bed was producing energy from nothing. However, not wanting to abandon the scientific method and jump to conclusions, Beastboy opened his eyes for some empirical proof.

Lots of questions were abruptly answered, but more still erupted in his mind. For example, he knew now that the thing lying next to him was indeed alive, and that the laws of thermodynamics weren't ready to be scrapped yet. He also knew why his hand was enjoying extra-comfortable cushioning.

On the other hand, unanswered mysteries popped up en-masse, like what Raven was doing in his bed, why they made the fourth Transformers movie and why his grass type level 7 Metapod only knew harden when, right now, he really needed teleport.

Beastboy wanted to white out, but unfortunately, he was green.

He was also at a loss of words. He would say Good morning, but would that mean he was wishing her a good morning? Or that it would be a good morning whether she'd want it or not? Or that he felt good that morning, or even that it was a morning to be good on? Between Raven's Arena Trap and his own semantics, Beastboy felt like his walls were closing in. The empath offered a helping hand. In breaking the ice, at least.

"Could you... Release me?" she stumbled, trying not to sound rude.

Beastboy's hand shot away from Raven as he practically launched himself off of her. In his eager retreat, his head collided with the upper bunk, making a nasty thump, followed by an "Oomph!" from the stunned teen.

He rubbed the painful spot and tried to calm down. The little laughing Cyborgs floating around his head poofed out of existence.

"Good morning, Raven." he finally said in his best casual tone. "Now," his inner voice declared "Now I have seen everything!"

Though, seeing as it wasn't the first time it had said that, it wasn't likely to be the last.

"Wow." Raven finally mustered.

"Huh?" Beastboy bluntly answered. Before shifting his attention to the matter at hand - blaming Cyborg. Somehow.

"I.. Apparently I was sleepwalking."

"Yeah, tell me about it! I'm gonna kill the tin m- What?"

Beastboy interrupted himself when his still rather drowsy mind finally processed what Raven was saying.

"Yeah, but… What?"

"I… Think I walked here in my sleep." Raven seemed rather confident in her unusual proposition. While embarrassment still clutched her cheeks with its red claws firmly, she explained further. "I know it sounds a bit…"

"Silly" Beastboy offered.

"Yes. But hear me out." Raven asked. Beastboy nodded silently, his eyes once again focusing on Raven intently. It was a look that he had reserved for listening to her. Suddenly, all of his attention would instantly shift to the girl. His pointy ears would become sinkholes for her words, soaking them up completely.

This gaze always surprised Raven a little. She had always kept her voice in a quieter monotone. The others would usually be much louder and emotional with their announcements. She was often unheard because of this. Not that Raven minded. It just meant that her voice had become something of a commentary to herself.

She found herself narrating the conversations of her teammates to herself at times. She'd sarcastically predict the conclusions the others would come to, and then cynically sigh in bitter amusement when her predictions would come true.

However, in her conversations with Beastboy, he always listened to what she said. Because Raven was so used to her own ironic remarks, it sometimes seemed like he was reading her mind just because she subconsciously spoke something out loud.

Presently, Raven began to explain the events of the previous night to the green teen. "I had a dream… Two dreams really. In both, I walked into your room… Well…" She paused to correct herself, "I crawled in through the hatch."

She followed up by saying: "The dreams were very vivid… And it's fuzzy, but I think I remember dwalking out of my door and down the hallway."

"You had a dream of coming into my room?" Beastboy asked, rather surprised.

"Yes, I've had it a couple of times now." Raven answered obliviously.

"Oh. I see."

"That's beside the point, Beastboy."

Beastboy wasn't informed of this. It eluded him how Raven having recurring dreams about coming to his room at night was "beside the point". Before he could convey these thoughts to Raven, she spoke again:

"To summarize, I don't think Cyborg's had anything to do with this. At least this time."

Beastboy understoo. If they had confronted the metal teen about the whole incident and it turned out that he was innocent, it would put them in an unfavorable position, to say the least.

Furthermore, if Cyborg was actually guilty, they would probably notice it immediately, and act accordingly.

With that, the two decided to spare the other Titans the knowledge of their accidental slumber party. Now sitting on Beastboy's bed were its rightful inhabitant, an empath with a terrible bedhead and an awkward silence. This time it was Beastboy who mustered the courage. "You wanna go out?"

Raven's face skipped a few shades of red straight to glowing scarlet. "S-sorry?" she said in confusion. Beastboy's chameleon side must have kicked in, as his own face followed suit. Realizing the implications, he scrambled to correct himself.

"I mean, umm, no, well, what I was gonna say… I mean, you wanna grab some ice cream or something? Like just as a thank you… Like for the, ummm…" He sunk into silence, looking for the right word. "Therapy! Therapy thingymadoodle." his sentence was a jumbled mess and he only hoped he got the right thing across.

Raven was going through stages of embarrassment like ice-cream flavors. The initial shock from Beastboy apparently asking her out, to the slight shame of misinterpreting his offer, to the absolute chagrin of her own interpretation.

Seeing the consequences of his own actions, Beastboy tried again to correct himself, but was left with his mouth hanging open as Raven spoke, much to his surprise. "I… You'd like to go… With me?"

She choked out the words through her shyness. It always seemed to creep up on Raven every time something nice was said about her. She'd cramp up and become either angry or helpless, depending on the situation.

"C'mon Rae, no need to make a big deal out of it. Of course I'd go… out with you," Beastboy's voice came dangerously close to breaking as he said it, "so how does the park ice cream sound?"

Though a torrent of emotions was supposed to be ravaging Raven's insides as well as her surroundings - through her empathic powers - she found herself surprisingly calm and composed. She understood that the person in front of her was Beastboy. A person she had trusted with her life on many occasions. He knew her better than anybody, bar maybe herself.

Raven decided that fewer assumptions and more ice cream was in order. "I like the one in the centre better, but we can go to the park if you'd like." Beastboy agreed that they'd go to the centre. "Holo rings, civilian, or uniform?"

"I know a nice place to bring the ice cream to, so we can just make a quick stop at the stand and then go there?" Beastboy suggested. Raven agreed.

"You know, I've been thinkin'" said Cyborg in a voice that obviously stated he had indeed not been thinking, but rather copying his lines from cheap movies. "About us, y'know."

The T-Car stared back at Cyborg in dead silence.

Though it did seem to the metallic Titan that its headlights widened by a tad, and that it was just trying to conceal its nervousness. He continued, taking the silence as a sign to go on.

"Look, I know we had some good times but... "

The T-Car remained motionless and expressionless.

Though it did seem to Cyborg as if its rearview mirrors slumped ever so slightly. He knew there was no answer to that, so he pressed on.

"You're a car… and I'm a guy. Well, I'd like to think that, at least." He chuckled dryly, sadness creeping into his voice.

The T-Car showed no signs of a reaction.

Still, Cyborg was sure that he could see the edges of its front bumper curve downwards a little.

"It just… won't work out, you know? It's not that I don't like you, it's just…" His voice was on the edge of breaking. "It won't work out the way we thought it would…"

The T-Car was still an inanimate object.

"It's not you… It's me… Go, and find someone wonderful.. Who loves you for who you are…"

Cyborg broke into tears.

The T-Car turned on, crashed through the garage door and drove off to town. Cyborg fell to his knees, his human cheek wet with tears he desperately tried to wipe away with his hands.

Robin stood in a dark corner with a cam-corder in his hand, face completely blank at what he'd just witnessed.

Cyborg stood up and, with his head hanging low, stalked off towards the stairs. Robin didn't move a muscle.

Beastboy and Raven met up on the roof a short while after Raven left his room, took off and flew to the ice cream stand. Raven ordered two gargantuan cones stocked to the brim. A curious green raven was perched on her shoulder, carefully monitoring her choice.

Next, Beastboy led Raven a little ways away from the town to a small local lake. A place for private picnics that he had datamined from Robin's romantic estrades. The two sat down in the short grass. Green hues mixed and splattered across the background. From the olive lake to the spring green, almost lime leaves that seemed to glow in the birds were ridiculously loud, and the shade eased the summer heat just slightly, so that it was bearable.

Green shadows slid across the pair as Raven offered the cone to Beastboy. Noticing that the cone was practically drooling all over her hand, he swiftly licked her fingers, then accepted the ice cream. Raven blushed and wiped her hand in the grass.

The two ate the refreshing, cold ice cream in silence. As they were eager to cool down, the scoops disappeared rather quickly, leaving behind cold tongues and swollen lips. It was then that Beastboy saw a wispy flash of light. A little spark, dancing in the rising heat, which quickly flew out of sight, causing him to turn his head.

Raven was looking at him. Her eyes bore into his, and though pink started playing on her cheeks, she did not look away. Beastboy couldn't help but yet again start counting stars in her eyes. A warm, bubbling feeling overtook him as the two were again in their own space.

The blush on her cheeks was so tangible, it was almost like he could touch it… His hand cupped her cheek gently. Beastboy couldn't help but notice her slightly parted lips, still red and numb from the cold ice cream.

"Beastboy…" Raven's voice was barely above a whisper.

Their eyes fluttered shut as their lips came together in a butterfly kiss.

The two broke apart, barely pulling back. Their eyes, dreamily half-opened, again looked at each other.

"Raven…"

Their lips touched again.


	23. Epilogue

An author's note before the story? Well that's just blasphemy is what that is. Let's just say that some people are a fan of ambiguous endings, and others are not. By all means, the show is over. This little speck's just added for those like me, who (in fancy-schmancy talk) equate catharsis with closure. Okay, okay, I admit, I'm just a sucker for unambiguous happy endings. It's a bit of a rant before the Titans get going, so if you're not into that sorta thing, skip ahead!

You don't get bullied at school for not finishing a fanfiction. There is no big kid coming after your sorry behind, all riled up and going: "Naruto's still not sacking the bubble gum hair girl, and I'm not talking about Carlie, whose hair I stuck chewing gum into in 2nd grade. Finish your goddamn story. Bitch. Writer's block? How about a writer's knuckle sandwich?"

Even if it did happen, what would someone say? What's the answer to that? Would I be like: "Yeah sorry Billy, but could you rephrase that remark so it's rated T and I can add it to my honorable mentions?"

Billy going.

"Screw you. And no typos. For every typo the chap's got, you buy me lunch for a day."

See, if bullies were like that, I'd be Charles Dickens. Instead, the best I can do is try to evoke sympathy with downright awful jokes about high-school life. I bet you're going "please sir, I want some more" for said jokes.

There's this one friend I have who's not too into TT. Well honestly, he's not into FF either, really. Anyway, I showed the bastard the first chapter of this story and his sole comment was: "Why the humor tag?"

Apparently "because it sounds cool" wasn't a satisfactory answer.

Yes, I'm flat out of teenager and dad jokes. No that's not the main reason I'm ending the story.

I'm ending it because the "easy" part is done. The duet climbed onto the plateau of "in a relationship", to an extent. Their journey really starts now, if you ask me. All things considered, though, a young, sprouting relationship in its infancy is the point of way too many stories up here anyway.

Which brings me to my next point. I know that style, flow and humor aren't my strong points, much less grammar. I've tried to focus more on conveying messages and emotions. For example, how Raven felt when she saw Beastboy take the tumble over the edge of the tower. Then, she turns around to lay waste on Slade, the poor bastard. What did you feel then? Were you with her all the way, ready to rip his spine out through his neck, or were you shifting uncomfortably? Either way, the person who stops her just shy of murder is Beastboy.

In your opinion, did that show how Beastboy helps Raven with her emotional troubles? At this point, I'd like to say that the message you take from the story is, of course, your own.

Continuing on the topic of Raven's emotions. Usually, when Beastboy's presence is presented as a positive influence on Raven, it's said that Raven is in control of her emotions. Complete with the bossy attitude she takes with her emoticlones, this kind of (seemingly harmless) plot device could unintentionally convey that controlling your emotions is good. Is that really good, though? In my humble opinion, what we should learn is to control our reactions to the emotions inside of us, not subdue the feelings themselves. In short - if you feel hungry, you shouldn't try to stop being hungry, but instead try to limit the amount of chocolate you consume.

I just wanted to say that just to cover my own ass philosophically, of course.

Now I always rolled my eyes when I saw writers giving thanks to their followers, reviewers and readers.

Which is exactly why I'm doing the exact same thing!

Honestly, though. The follows always made my day, when the mail would tell me that one of you guys liked my story enough to read on. In constant fear that things I was doing (like the Cy/T-Car thing) might drive people away, but I did them in good faith that they were fresh and interesting to read.

Those fears melted when I read the reviews. You guys were seriously too kind. Taking the time to write to me and send nice, encouraging notes. Going into my first fic, I expected the reviews to be more of a war zone, but everyone was just too kind. It's a superb community for a writer to grow in, and I have to thank you for having me. If it weren't for you, I doubt I could've finished it.

Special thanks to RPGPersona. Dude. Review on every chapter? You're more encouraging than my parents. Thank you so much for tagging along.

Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to give thanks to you, the reader. To me, being able to share my thoughts and fantasies with you is one of the best feelings in the world. Sure, I sound fifty years older than I am saying this, but it's truly amazing how far a simple thought can go through the web. In an age of so many thoughts to choose from, thanks for picking mine. I hope I met your expectations.

Yes, I'm done drooling. No that's a flea in my eye.

Disclaimer: YEAH! Last one. I don't own shit. Excuse my french.

She was absolutely stunning. It felt like even the sun was going "god damn!", looking at her dress. Beastboy felt his eyes inflate, as they shamelessly stared at Raven. She looked so good little chills were running up his back.

It wasn't like the thing was more revealing than her leotard. But while her uniform made her look like a professional swimmer got lost at a LARP event, this thing accentuated her curves, hypnotizing the green changeling with even the minimal hip movement of Raven's walk.

In fact, he was so caught up, he didn't even notice the sweat nearly boiling on his blushing forehead. It was the hottest day in the year, and the young man was having trouble telling what was more like Venus, Raven or the atmosphere. It took him a while to decide that the lack of lead puddles and sulfuric acid rain outweighed the lack of seashells under Raven's feet.

She almost glided across the red carpet laid out on the roof of the T-Tower, ending with a small arch of flowers. Beastboy was grinning habitually. He and Robin stood at the arch, dressed in suits, flowers tucked into their pockets.

As the empath approached the two young men, the leader offered her an encouraging, though somewhat embarrassed smile. They were ready to begin.

Cyborg strutted out through the roof door, the shine from his newly polished parts blinded the assembly for a second. He was wearing a vest, as he'd probably have to assemble himself into a nice suit.

The T-Car, clad in a gargantuan ruffled lace, was parked beside the arch where three Titans stood. The frills reached from one of the side-view mirrors, across the roof and to the other. No fabric was wrapped around the wheels and bumpers, as, in Cyborg's opinion, her skirt was the best anyway.

"I know we've agreed to this, but now that we're doing it, I kinda wish we hadn't." Raven quietly muttered to Robin. The hot air felt somewhat heavy as the teary-eyed metal Titan finally graced his way to the vehicular bride.

"How'd he get it up here anyway?" whispered Beastboy to Raven as Robin proceeded with the ceremony.

"He dismantled it and re-assembled it on the roof. And before you ask, yes, we did try the elevator. What do you think he was fixing up until now?"

Beastboy winced, mentally saluting his best friend for all the stairs he must've walked. It took a bit more standing around in awkward silence before Robin finally arrived at the slightly adjusted: "I now pronounce you mechanic and car. You may ride the bride."

The last line was the genius mind-work of the resident changeling, who took pride in his work. Cyborg, overtaken by emotion and deeply touched by the moment started climbing into the T-Car to have a ride. Robin and Starfire were barely holding him back from driving off the roof.

Beastboy clumsily set the sun umbrella down between himself and Raven. He turned to her and his small smile widened. "What do you think, Rae?" he asked, darting his eyes across the tiny mock-ceremony the team was holding.

"I'm not much for weddings." She answered honestly. Just standing at the front as the car's maid of honor was enough of a taste for her that she knew wasn't cut out for events like that.

"Oh yeah? Better make sure you think carefully before you buy the cow, then."

Raven gave him a funny look, but couldn't help but break into a smile. Beastboy reassuringly grabbed her hand, raised it between them and gave it a slight squeeze. He completed his spell with a wink and a kiss on the cheek, successfully stunning the half-demon.

"Ooh, this is bad." Raven exclaimed as much as her monotone allowed her. "I've developed feelings for a potential green cow."

"Oh I can already see today's entry. Dear Dairy. Today, I was completely flustered when Beast Man hit me with his irresistible moves. It was the ears after all."

"I take back those words."

"Don't be like that, Rae. You can be a bit gentler to your patient, miss counsellor."

"He's beyond repair doctor. We must administer the electric shock treatment."

"More like the defibrillator."

"Why?"

"My heart's done 'cause I gave it to you."

And that is the story of how the Titans ordered their first pizza without the cheese.

The end.


End file.
